Ghosts
by 123me
Summary: She'd suppressed everything about her past, boxed it all up in a dark corner of her mind and did everything she could to ignore it. It's not that she didn't want to tell him. She couldn't. Ava backstory, hints of Ava/Connor and Hailey/Jay.
1. Chapter 1

**Set soon after the events of the finale.**

* * *

_**Prologue**_

She wandered aimlessly around her empty apartment, an attempt to calm her frayed nerves. She wasn't quite sure what exactly it was that she was feeling. Anger didn't feel right, disappointed didn't cover it. The sting of betrayal, excruciating as it was, barely even scratched the surface. Hurt. Scared. Stupid.

It had been years since she had last really let anyone in, deciding it was better than the alternative. Better that the danger and the loss. Better than the fear of being let down. She'd believed her defences were so strong that no one would ever manage to break through them. Somehow, though, slowly but surely, he had. Somehow he'd made her like him, found a way into her heart. Saved her from her self-imposed isolation. Then he'd broken her. Taken that connection, the mutual love and respect she had believed they had, and shattered it without a second thought.

A part of her wished she had gone to him that night, told him the truth about his father right away, but she'd reasoned that despite his fractured relationship with the man, it would only hurt him, and it's not as if he could have done anything about it. She downplayed those events in her mind, clinging to the knowledge that she had got away in time, that, as she always did, she had saved herself once again. She had to, it wasn't as if she could have gone to the police. In her position, that would have done way more harm than good.

His opinion of her had spiralled. A lie from his father sparking a series of events she never could have predicted. That she could never have imagined. A distracted slip of the hand in the OR that she knew she'd never really be able to explain – and that he'd probably never believe if she tried. A complaint she never made, one that could have also derailed her own career had she said the wrong thing to the wrong person – sure, he made the call, but she knew he was making it. She didn't stop him despite knowing she should have, she agreed to play along.

Mere months ago she'd never have believed he would be so willing to hurt her so much. Now it was all he seemed to want to do. Every little thing that went wrong in his life was suddenly her fault. He couldn't trust her, he had claimed, and she didn't really blame him, she'd told him practically nothing about herself. He knew nothing of her past, of her family. Nothing about the hopes and dreams of the little girl she no longer allowed herself to think about. She'd suppressed everything about her past, boxed it all up in a dark corner of her mind and did everything she could to ignore it.

It's not that she didn't want to tell him.

She couldn't.

And now he was accusing her of murder.

She'd made a mistake when she'd realised just what he was thinking. She'd let her anger and frustration get the better of her, giving him more ammunition against her, and now she had no doubt he'd be raising his concerns with anyone who would listen. There was no coming back from this. She knew that no matter what happened, she'd never be able to forget his thinking _that_ of her. She'd never be able to move past it. She wasn't even sure how she could continue working with him, but she didn't really have an option on that front. She'd have to play nice, smile through the pain and hope she didn't fall apart again.

For now though, she had bigger concerns.

She threw herself onto the couch, grasping her cell phone from the coffee table. Dialling that familiar number.

Voicemail.

"Hey, I need to see you. I'm working all day tomorrow but could you come over in the evening? Around 8?"


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a relatively quiet morning in the ED compared to normal standards, and Maggie was grateful to not feel too overstretched for once. It had never mattered how many time she complained about the staffing issue, nothing ever changed, so days like these were somewhat of a godsend. It wasn't often that the place ran like clockwork, despite her best efforts, and she'd come to expect drama between the doctors nowadays. Quiet days were a dream. A necessary one when she was two doctors down and having to deal with those pulled in to cover.

She glanced over at the hybrid OR, where Lanik's elective surgery was taking place, letting out a sigh at the sight. It had been a while since she had scrubbed in anywhere, despite Connor's best efforts. There just wasn't time in the day for her to step back into that role while maintaining her current one, and she couldn't keep leaving April in charge despite the great job she did.

"Maggie." Ethan Choi's voice cut through her thoughts. "My patient in three is ready for discharge, I'm going to head out for lunch when that's done."

She nodded. If it had been a hectic day, she'd probably have asked him to hold off, but it seemed that he had been working far harder than normal that morning, as if he thought he alone had to make up for the absence of Halstead and Manning by himself. He deserved his break, and the ED could manage without him for a short time.

She moved out to the waiting area, glancing around the sparsely populated room, and she couldn't help but wonder if the lack of patients was connected to the attack on Will and Natalie the night before. PD hadn't exactly been discreet as to what had happened, and she supposed it was natural that people may be concerned.

"Waiting for the inevitable?"

"What?" She looked up to the man that was now standing next to her, giving Connor a brief smile before turning back. "I think so. People just can't help coming in over everything."

"Can't see that changing for long."

"It never does."

She frowned as the doors opened, turning to Connor once again as she saw who stepped in. "Did we need the police called for anything?"

Connor shrugged. "Not today."

She watched as the blonde approached, seeming somewhat concerned as she stopped in front of them. Barely registering Connor's presence as she spoke to Maggie. "I need to speak with Dr. Bekker."

Maggie nodded, turning and walking back into the hospital, knowing the detective would follow. Slightly intrigued when Connor also followed them in. "Let me page her for you. Any particular reason?"

"Official business."

The response was expected, PD never showed up at the hospital for anything other than official business when none of their own were receiving treatment.

"If it's about last night, I don't think Dr. Bekker saw anything."

"Last night?" The detective seemed confused for a second. "You mean the incident with Jay's brother?"

Maggie nodded, noting the almost effortless subject change. "I think Jay might still be upstairs with Will."

"He is."

"Of course. I should have realised you'd know."

"Nature of the job."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Maggie knew most of the Intelligence unit pretty well, but Hailey Upton was still a bit of a mystery to her. She hadn't come by the hospital all that often, definitely not as much as Jay did, and when she did, she never really gave much away.

She let out an inaudible sigh of relief when she spied the elevator doors open and Ava Bekker stepping out, pushing the doors in front of her and moving towards them. "Detective."

The pair exchanged a look that Maggie struggled to read, before Ava led her into the vacant doctors lounge and out of earshot.

"I wonder what that's about." She pondered aloud, before glancing around and seeing Connor leaning up against the desk behind her, feigning interest in whatever it was in front of him. "Any ideas?"

He looked up at her, deciding not to pretend he hadn't been listening. "No idea. Could be anything with her."

"Are you still on that?"

"After everything she's done?" She countered. "Yeah, I'm still on that."

"You still don't know that she's actually done anything." With any other doctor Maggie knew she would be more tactful, but she'd never really had that concern with Connor. "Goodwin has already had it with your drama. If you want to find out what happens when Gwen Garrett sees it, feel free to continue."

**\- Ghosts -**

"What are you doing here?"

"You called me."

Ava frowned. "I asked you to come to mine after work, it could wait until then."

"I made a judgement call." Hailey countered, watching as the doctor sat down before sitting beside her. "What's happened?"

"I don't even know where to start."

Hailey frowned. "Tell me one thing." She paused, taking a moment, unsure if she wanted the answer. "Are you compromised?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

The detective let out a sigh of relief she hadn't known she was holding. "Then what's the issue?"

"Connor." Ava stated, allowing herself to acknowledge the hurt she was still feeling. "He's been accusing me or insane things for months but now, now he's accusing me of murder."

"Accusing you?" Hailey stood up, pacing the floor impatiently. "Who does he think you killed?"

"His father."

"Did you?"

"No!"

"Then why does he think you did?"

"It's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it."

Ava bit her lip, burying her head in her hands. "Last year, I asked his father to fund the Hybrid OR. I knew he was attracted to me and I used that. Nothing happened but..."

"But he said it did."

Ava nodded. "Connor didn't believe me. He said he couldn't trust me, and I don't blame him, he doesn't really know anything about me, but every time something goes wrong now, it's somehow my fault."

When she finally looked up, Hailey noticed the familiar look in her eyes. That wasn't the whole story. "I need you to be completely honest with me."

The doctor refused to make proper eye contact. "I guess you could say that he... Cornelius... that he tried to push me into something happening."

"How so?" She knew the answer, she just needed to hear it.

"He offered to take me home, I refused, he pushed me against a wall, his hand..."

"I get it." Hailey confirmed. "Why didn't you report this?"

"I couldn't." Ava insisted, but Hailey already knew she was right. The question had been futile. "Someone that high profile. If I'd have reported it..."

A nod. "Still, you should have told me. I'd have handled it." Hailey took a moment, watching the other blonde. "And you're sure you did nothing that led to his death?"

"I'm sure." Ava confirmed. "This job is all I have left right now, I'd never jeopardise it."

"Okay." Hailey glanced out of the doctors lounge, noting the eager eyes of a couple of nurses watching them. "Was that it?"

"Yeah."

The detective turned back to Ava. "Okay. I'll see what I can do."

"Hailey." Ava spoke up just as the detective took a step to leave. "Is she okay?"

Hailey gave a brief smile. "She is. I checked in after I heard your message."

"I just want this to all be over."

"Me too."

**\- Ghosts -**

Connor left the Hybrid OR, exhausted, and still somewhat distracted by Detective Upton's visit. As expected, Ava hadn't shed any light when the two had parted ways, having returned to the CT floor for the afternoon without a word. He knew it was unlikely to be about his father, Atwater had taken the lead, as far as he had been told, and the situation had seemed too informal for questioning anyway. It had seemed almost as if they were old friends, only the conversation had seemed tense from the little he had seen through the glass before being dragged away to see to another patient.

The day had picked up rapidly after lunch. An accident on the freeway bringing in multiple casualties. They'd barely had time to breathe running between patients, he'd had to skip lunch when the call came in, unable to leave the understaffed ED.

He looked around for Maggie, before realising she had probably already left for the day, he was later than expected finishing his surgery, the next shift had started.

He'd thought the doctors lounge was empty when he'd opened the door and headed to his locker, and by the time he realised that Ava was there, immobile on the couch and staring into space, he had already began preparing for his journey home.

He scoffed, intent on ignoring her, although somewhat disappointed that she hadn't seemed to realise he was even in the room. She'd changed, and seemed ready to leave, and he couldn't quite figure out why she was still sitting there. It bothered him. Was she waiting for someone?

He moved towards her, opting to click his fingers in her face and watched as she gave a sharp blink, shaking her head slightly before turning her confused eyes to him briefly. She didn't speak, looking away from him almost as quickly as she had acknowledged him, blinking a few more times. He watched as she glanced at her watch before swinging her bag over her shoulder and leaving the room, his eyes following her as she left the hospital.

That was weird.

Even for her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Just a heads up for those reading this – I didn't finish last season of Med (or Fire but that won't factor much into this story), and I am half a season behind with PD (I watch UK pace), so not everything will add up completely. After the mess that was last season of Med, I'm not going to be watching this season, so this only really follows canon loosely, based on the little I know happened.**

* * *

"Rough night?"

Hailey gave Kim a weak smile as she heard the comment, making her way to her desk and sitting. "You could say that?"

"Anything I could help with?"

"Been thinking about an old case a lot recently." It was partially true, at least. It was a case, just maybe not as old as she was making it sound.

"I know that feeling." Kim approached, sitting on the edge of Hailey's desk. "We all have that one case. Want me to take a look?"

Hailey hesitated. "It's a need to know kind of case."

"Your undercover assignment?" Kim let out a laugh. "You know the guys still go on about that, they really want to know what it was."

"If it ever goes to trial I might be able to tell them." She glanced around. "Where are they anyway? I know Jay's with Will today but the others should be here."

"Kevin wanted to check in on the hospital CCTV. Antonio's still MIA. Haven't seen Voight. He's probably trying to figure out where Antonio's got to."

"You think we should be worried?"

"Probably."

"You think he's on the drugs again?"

"I think we need to consider it as a possibility."

"It'd be it for him."

Kim nodded, a frown gracing her features. "We tried to help."

Hailey paused. "You're sure Voight's looking for him? You spoke to him?"

"No, I just don't see where else he'd be."

"You don't think..."

"No."

Hailey nodded, turning away at the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

"They still haven't sent that CCTV over. I'm going to need to make a call."

Hailey stood, greeting Atwater as he approached. "Is this the Rhodes case?"

"Yeah, thought they'd have sent it over by now."

The blonde nodded. "Have you spoken to his son?"

"Not yet. Why?"

"Financial motive. Known to not get on with his father. Worth looking into."

He nodded. "I guess it's something."

He moved to his own desk, and Kim eyed the blonde sceptically. "What was that about?"

"It's a valid line of investigation."

"He'd have got to it."

"No harm in speeding things up."

**-Ghosts-**

"_Jess Hanshaw" Hailey held out a hand to the man in front of her, glancing briefly at the blonde standing behind him. "She okay?"_

_Rick turned slightly, barely giving the girl his acknowledgement. "Her uncle owes me, she's staying with me until he pays off his debts."_

"_Gotta hate it when this is necessary."_

"_Gotta feed her too, so that gets added to his debt."_

"_So it should be."_

_He nodded. "You want anything? Water? Beer? Wine?"_

"_Beer's good."_

"_CHLOE!" His response was to shout to the girl behind him. "You heard her, get her a beer."_

_The blonde moved quickly, and the movement enabled Hailey to notice the slight limp she was walking with, the cuts and bruises marking her body. It definitely seemed she was having a rough time._

"_So, how are you enjoying being with the company?"_

_It was a strange question, but by now Hailey was used to criminals referring to their activities as such. "It's been good. Loved the welcome gift."_

"_Best coke around." Rick claimed, as the girl placed two beers on the desk in front of them. "Did I ask for one?" He rounded on her. "Are you hearing things?"_

_The girl stuttered out a small no, retrieving one of the beers and returning it to the mini fridge._

"_Looks like she's hassle."_

"_She is. If her damn uncle doesn't get me my cash, I'm gonna have to dispose of her."_

"_Lose your leverage?"_

_Rick shrugged. "He has other nieces."_

"_But will any of them be useful?"_

_The man laughed. "I like you, Hanshaw."_

**-Ghosts-**

Ava looked up as the door to the doctors lounge opened, nodding in greeting to Ethan before heading out to start her day. She hated walking through the ED nowadays, but she greeted Maggie every morning and hadn't seen her yet. She knew it could always wait until lunch, but it was a routine she had somehow fallen into that she had grown fond of.

It wasn't Maggie that she first spotted as she stepped out of the room and out into the business of the day, though. It was Atwater, quietly leading Connor away from the patients and their visitors, into a more private room.

"He's being questioned about his dad." Maggie answered the question that Ava hadn't thought to ask.

"Why?"

"Routine, I guess."

"Wasn't he already spoken to?"

"Follow up?"

Ava shrugged. "I'd better get up there."

Maggie nodded, and she headed through the doors, stepping onto the elevator and leaning against the wall, allowing her thoughts to wander. It wasn't until the doors opened on the next floor and two nurses entered that she began to refocus.

"I'm telling you, I heard it all. They think he killed his dad."

"Why would they think that though?"

"It sounded like they got some intel. I think someone told the cops that they didn't get on."

"Who would do that?"

"Could be anyone. It's not as if it was a secret. Everyone knew."

"Would he really go that far, though?"

"Who knows?"

The doors opened again and the nurses stepped off without so much as acknowledging Ava's presence. She was frowning, taking in their conversation. Intel? Not routine, then.

She stepped off on her floor, trying to push the information out of her mind. She had a job to do. He wasn't her concern any more. She just hoped this "intel" hadn't come from the source she believed it may have.

**-Ghosts-**

Hailey walked up the steps to her apartment, exhausted after her work day. With Antonio missing and and the Kelton situation, she'd spent the day following evidence to an answer she wasn't sure she wanted. She needed sleep, but when she turned the corner, she knew she wasn't going to get it.

"Ava."

"What did you do?"

Hailey sighed, immediately knowing what was being asked. "I got the heat off of you, and I'll continue to."

"You gave them a new suspect before I even became one."

"I did what I had to do."

"You didn't need to put a grieving man in the firing line."

"I did my job, Ava." Hailey exclaimed. "My job is to protect you, and I will do whatever it takes to do that." She stepped around her, opening the door to her apartment. "Are you coming in?" She stepped aside, waiting until the doctor had moved past her before closing the door. "He's not my concern, and he shouldn't be your concern either."

"He didn't do it."

"You know that for sure?" Hailey countered. "Can you account for his every action that day?"

"No." The admittance wasn't really needed. "He wouldn't, though."

"And if he didn't, Atwater will figure it out, and he'll be fine."

"Then he'll move on to me."

"No he won't."

"You can't possibly know that."

"I do know that, Ava. He won't be able to move on to you, because you won't be here."

"What?"

"I was going to wait until tomorrow to tell you. It's time to pack. You're being moved."


	4. Chapter 4

"_We need to identify that girl." The agent went over the notes she had taken the last time they'd had communication with Officer Upton. "You're sure there's no minor child by that name reported missing?"_

"_Not in the area. Still waiting for the records from further afield." _

_She glanced at the picture the officer had managed to get through to them. It was a poor angle, a profile shot where the camera had been sideways and aimed slightly up – a sure sign that the device had been on Hailey's lap when she had taken the image._

_Agent Stevens had been sceptical about sending a relatively inexperienced patrol officer into the lions den for a case this big, but Upton had proven her worth and some over the past couple of months._

"_Are we sure she's a minor?"_

"_Dalton said she was 17. Upton thought she might be younger."_

"_What about the uncle? If she lives with her uncle, we could check child custody cases? Look for any where an uncle gained custody of a Chloe that fits in her age range."_

"_I put requests in but it's a big ask, especially without knowing the circumstances of the case."_

"_What if Chloe is an alias?"_

"_Then we go back to the beginning."_

"_Dalton mentioned the uncle having other nieces. Maybe she has sisters?"_

"_Look into that. The uncle wouldn't file a missing persons report if he's in deep, so look for missing persons reports filed by a sister."_

"_On it."_

_The team had reached a point where it didn't really matter who was saying what, the office was a buzz of activity. Of constant brainstorming. This girl was their biggest lead in a while and everyone was giving their all to figure it out._

"_Maybe Upton will be able to find out more?"_

"_Maybe, but whether she does or not, we need to know."_

"_Work fast, save the girl."_

"_Exact..."_

"_I've got something."_

_The call had come from across the room, and Agent Stevens jumped up from her desk quickly, almost sprinting across the space. "What is it?"_

"_Missing persons report from New York." The junior agent eleborated. "Chloe Victoria Downes, 15. Reported missing by her sister three weeks ago." She gestured to the picture. "That's her, right?"_

"_It definitely looks like her."_

_**-Ghosts-**_

"I can't just leave!" Ava argued. "That would move me to the top of the suspect list."

"He can't find someone that doesn't exist." Hailey pointed out. "Ava Bekker isn't real. She's a work of fiction. I know living a lie isn't easy but you have to remember that."

"She's real now. She's me!"

"She's never been real." Hailey reminded her. "She was always temporary, and whoever you are next will also be temporary."

"I can't do this again." Ava complained. "I didn't do it, can't I just wait it out?"

"This isn't about the Rhodes murder." Hailey's frustration was evident in her tone. "The FBI contacted your marshal this morning. There's been talk of Dalton's second coming down to Chicago in the next few days. You were mentioned by name." A pause. "Both names."

Ava fell against the wall, staring at the other woman. "How?"

"Seems they got tipped off by a magazine. Some article on a high profile patient somehow managed to get a picture of you."

"I haven't had a high profile patient in weeks!"

"Which just means you're lucky they haven't already come here."

Hailey's cell rang, and Ava watched as she briefly checked who was calling before answering.

"Hey. Yes. No. No concerns yet. She's with me. Got it."

She hung up. "Your marshal. Looks like Dalton's men are already here. They caught a few guys staking out your apartment. Guess it's a good thing you didn't go home tonight."

Ava paced the length of the room, dropping onto the couch and resting her head in her hands. "What am I going to do about work? I have scheduled surgeries in two days. Tomorrow's my day off, they won't realise I've gone until I don't show up for those."

Hailey sighed. She had to admit, that was an issue. The relocation wasn't an option, but the idea that the medical care of civilians could be compromised by Ava's absence didn't sit well with her. The idea was that no one died, not that someone else died. "I'll see if someone can let the hospital know they need to find someone else. That has to wait until you're gone, though."

"You're not coming?"

Hailey frowned. "Why would I be coming?"

"I'm not an idiot, Upton. I know your move to intelligence was orchestrated so you could be closer to me."

"How do you know that?"

"When all this started, I had to listen to you complain about robbery/homicide all the time. How they never let you do anything. You never got the big cases, always got sidelined. Then there's a huge case and you're suddenly just given it, and within days you're in a different unit. I have no doubt you got the job on your own merit but I'm certain they orchestrated you meeting Voight."

Hailey nodded. "They did. I didn't know until after the fact, though. Didn't really think about it at first. Not until I realised exactly how close you were." She sat down. "It's not as if I expected it, as far as I was concerned I was off the case, then when I asked them about it they said they wanted more eyes on you."

"Why?"

"You're one of their star witnesses, they'd have the entire force watching you if they could."

Ava nodded. "So why aren't you coming with me?"

"They want me here. I know the players, and as far as Dalton is concerned, Jess Hanshaw is dead. They're not looking for me." Hailey gave a small smile in an attempt at reassurance. "You'll be fine."

**-_Ghosts-_**

"_Got it."_

"_That was fast."_

"_ACS responded pretty quickly when I told them she's been seen."_

_Agent Stevens nodded, pulling up the file. "Chloe Victoria Downes, born February 19th 1997. Orphaned in June 2000 when both parents and a brother died in a car crash. She and a sister, Ella Jane Downes, born July 11th 1990, survived the crash, two other children, Madison Lauren Downes and Matthew Jacob Downes were not in the car at the time."_

"_Kid's had a tough life."_

_Agent Stevens nodded. "The four surviving Downes children were placed in the care of their maternal uncle, John Morgan..."_

_The room fell silent as the agent read through the rest of the file, hoping she'd find something they could run with._

_She looked up. "Going by the birth dates she's the only one that's still a minor, if the other three have moved out and the uncle is in deep with these guys, it would explain the delay in the report. None of her siblings realised she was gone for a few weeks."_

"_Anything else?"_

"_Looks like their uncle home-schooled all the kids. All of the updates to the file are positive. Seems they all had pretty decent childhoods all things considered._

"_Which one reported her missing?"_

_She switched to the missing persons report, checking the name given. "Ella."_

_The response was met by almost instant furious typing. "Ella Jane Downes, no criminal record, graduated high school at 15. College educated." More typing. "There's a facebook page, quite a few pictures of the four siblings. Last status update is about Chloe, posted yesterday. There's a couple of comments, one asking about the other two kids. Ella responded that she's told them to stay where they are. No mention of where that is."_

"_You think she knows something?"_

_Agent Stevens had come to a similar conclusion. "It could be nothing, but if she doesn't want them around it's possible. We'll need to talk to her."_

_**-Ghosts-**_

Ava knew the drill. It had been a while, but it was hard to forget how this worked, especially how fast it worked when time was running out. She wasn't going to get to pack after all. The FBI would go in and clear the place out. Anything she could keep would eventually find it's way to her. Everything else would be held under lock and key, or destroyed. No one would be notified of her absence or the reasons for it, and Ava Bekker would cease to exist.

She'd get a new name, a new backstory, the only thing about her, she hoped, that would remain real was her qualifications, and even they would not have her own name on them if they gave her that. She suspected they wouldn't this time. She'd only got away with it last time because she'd never had the opportunity to make use of them.

She glanced over at Hailey as she heard a knock on the apartment door. "It's time?"

Hailey approached the door, checking who was on the other side before nodding and opening it just enough for the person on the other side to step through.

"Detective." The man greeted, watching Ava warily from across the room. "We have to be fast." He directed at Ava, pulling a file out of his bag. "They're still watching your apartment. Looks like a couple of guys showed up at the hospital too." He handed the file to Ava before looking back to Hailey. "You should probably find somewhere else to stay, it's only a matter of time before they find out about Ava Bekker's detective friend."

Ava was reading through the file she had been given. Her new life. An entire new set of details she would need to memorise over the next hours. She had to have an answer to every question, it was the only way to keep herself safe. It was the only way to keep _her _safe.

She looked up at Hailey to see her grimacing, seemingly at the thought of having to leave her own home. "You're sure you'll be okay?"

Hailey nodded. "I'll be fine. I've got all the backup I need."

**-_Ghosts-_**

Hank Voight stared down the FBI agent standing in front of him, still curious as to what this late night visit to the precinct was about. They had no shared cases, nothing to be working with each other on, yet he had received a late night call requesting he return to his place of work, no questions asked.

Agent Walker was new to him. Someone he'd never worked with before, and in the few minutes he had been in the office with him, he had already determined that he didn't like him. It was clear he wanted something, and Voight was sure it was something he wasn't going to be willing to give.

His brow raised slightly when Hailey Upton sprinted up the steps, his curiosity growing when she headed straight to his office, but it wasn't until she had entered the room, shutting the door behind her without a word that he began to really realise what was going on.

He knew about her past, about the undercover work she was hand-picked for by the FBI when she was just starting out in her career. The work that had led to a meritorious promotion. He knew it had never gone to trial and as such she was unable to talk about it, he had even suspected that the case was not as over as her removal from it made it seem. He hadn't, however, expected it to come up this soon.

"It's time then."

"Sergeant?"

"Is she in danger?"

Hailey knew he was talking about her. She also knew that he hadn't directed the question to her because he knew she'd deny any suggestion that she could be at risk. He did everything he could to protect his team, if he thought she was at risk there was no way he would stand by and let the danger continue unchallenged.

"We're unsure." Walker responded, and for that Hailey was grateful. She knew there was a very good chance she would be at risk very soon. "You are aware of the undercover work she did with us?"

Voight nodded. "You'd better sit down."

The agent sat, slightly uncomfortable at being given the order. "She was sent undercover as part of our investigations into one Rick Dalton."

"I know of the guy."

Agent Walker didn't seem surprised by this. "Ideally we would have sent an experienced agent, but the job required someone street smart, and importantly, from out of town. Our intel told us he was more likely to trust someone that wasn't from the area. We knew he liked young blondes, and when we met Upton we knew she was our best bet."

"I've no doubt she was."

"We gained a lot of valuable intel from her. We knew he was supplying drugs in massive quantities, and that people around him tended to end up dead, but the guy was good at covering his tracks. With the information Upton gave us, we also confirmed kidnapping and sex trafficking was also going on within his organisation."

"And this never went to trial?"

"It almost did. We pulled Upton out after a year. Staged a rescue attempt on one of the girls he was holding and listed her UC identity as a casualty. She came back to Chicago, the girl and members of her family were placed in witness protection, then he went underground."

"Wait, he disappeared?" Hailey interrupted. "No one told me that."

Voight's eyes narrowed at her comment. "So this prick vanishes and you don't even warn her?"

"He believed she was dead, we had no reason to be concerned about her."

"And now you do?"

"Dalton's men have recently discovered the new identity of one of the witnesses. Detective Upton had, at our request, maintained contact with this witness. That witness, as well as a few others, have now been moved. We have no reason to believe your detective has been compromised, but if the connection to the witness is discovered, she could be."

"And you're telling me at the last possible second." Voight was angry. "You put my people in danger and don't think I need to know about it?"

"It was a need to know case..."

"And I needed to know." Voight glanced over at Hailey before turning back to the agent. "If any of my team are at risk, I need to know."

His anger wasn't unexpected, at least from Hailey's point of view. After Al, knowing everything had become far more crucial to him. He'd never asked her about the case he knew she couldn't talk about, but she'd noted his concern, his fear that it was something that would one day endanger her. The Antonio situation would likely have strengthened his concerns, he'd barely even had time to react to that yet but she was expecting it to become more evident over the following days.

"We have no reason to believe Dalton will make the journey himself, as of now he's still underground. For this reason, we have a request."

Voight's eyes darkened. "No."

Hailey frowned, glancing between the two men. "You want them to find out Jess isn't dead."

"I can't spare her."

"We put in the request earlier this evening." The agent elaborated. "We both know it's just a formality."

"What would I have to do?"

"That's the beauty of it." Walker smiled. "Just make yourself seen. We want his men to see you, tell him you're here. Lure him out."

"You want her to compromise herself? If she gets made he won't come down here, they'll just kill her and leave."

"Not compromise herself. We don't want them to see Detective Upton, we want them to see Jess Hanshaw."

Voight took a moment, he knew their request was likely to be granted, that he wouldn't really be able to stop it. "One condition." He looked between his detective and the agent. "I'm there. Halstead, Atwater and Burgess are there. None of us or all of us."

"We'll be providing backup."

Voight refused to back down. "All of us, or none of us."

Walker stood, sighing. "I'll see what I can do."

Voight watched as he left, remaining silent until the sound of his footsteps faded. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

Hailey nodded. "The witness, the one that's just been moved. Their name is likely to come up in the Rhodes murder investigation. Atwater could end up wasting time trying to find someone that doesn't exist."


	5. Chapter 5

"When I first went under, it was Indiana." Hailey elaborated, the weight that she felt had been lifted almost overwhelming. "Dalton moves around, we weren't there for long. We were here for a couple of months. I met Chloe, one of the girls he was holding, while we were here in Chicago. Then it was Atlanta, NYC, Miami and Boston."

"That's a lot of moving. It didn't impact his business?"

"Not really, he seemed to have people everywhere. He only took a few of us with him."

"And you were one of the few?"

"His pet project." Hailey sighed. "He was obsessed with me. In some ways it was helpful, I was close to him a lot, but he was full on. Made reporting back a nightmare."

Jay's expression was almost unreadable, she knew if he had been talking to anyone but her, his reaction would have gone unnoticed. "Sounds like the feds are right to think he'll come out of hiding to find you."

"To find Jess." Hailey corrected. "I don't think it'll be as straightforward as the feds think, though."

"No?"

"Rick Dalton is a suspicious guy. If he's been in hiding for years I can't see him coming to me. He'll expect me to go to him."

"Voight won't like that." Jay shrugged. "Meeting on their turf makes things less predictable for us."

"Us?"

"Ryan's not going to agree to Jess going off alone in those circumstances. Especially considering that he knows the last time she was with this guy, the cops almost killed her."

Hailey laughed. "Jess appreciates that."

"I got your back." He gave her a nod. "Always."

She smiled. "I got your back, too."

**-Ghosts-**

Connor slammed his fist against the wall, barely acknowledging the dozens of people that turned to look over at him following the sound.

"Hello to you, too."

He frowned before turning to Maggie, trying to contain his anger. "Sorry."

"What happened?"

He leaned back against the wall he had just hit. "Atwater's been taken off my dad's case. Voight's handed it over to homicide."

"I guess that makes sense."

"I requested Intelligence take it." Connor reminded her. "Voight said they'd make it their priority, and now he's making excuses. He's claiming they've had some big case come up and he needs Atwater somewhere else."

"I doubt it's an excuse." Maggie tried. "It's not as if it would be unheard of for the unit to get big cases, is it."

The man sighed. "No, but he was going to get somewhere. If anyone could prove she did it..."

"What are you going to do if it's found that she didn't?" Maggie queried, knowing immediately who he was referring to without needing to ask.

"She did it." Connor insisted. "You don't know her like I do."

"Not that long ago you were claiming you didn't know her at all." She reminded him. "Think about it logically. She had him on the table days before it happened, if she was going to kill him, wouldn't she have just done something then, made it look accidental. Why would she wait and do something entirely traceable later? It doesn't make sense."

"She did it." He repeated, although he had to admit, she had a point. "It had to be her."

"There were thousands of people in and out of this hospital that day, Connor. It could have been anyone."

They were interrupted by Goodwin's approach, pausing the conversation out of the knowledge that her overhearing wouldn't be good for either of them.

"Dr. Rhodes." She started, nodding to Maggie in acknowledgement. "I know you're meant to be off tomorrow, but I'm hoping you'll be able to cover a couple of Dr. Bekker's surgeries. Dr. Latham has agreed to take those that he can but there are still two I need cover for."

"Where is Dr. Bekker?"

"I'm not sure." Goodwin admitted. "I received a phone call this morning advising me to make alternative arrangements for her patients. Unfortunately I haven't been able to contact her to confirm."

"Who called?"

"A friend of hers, supposedly. They were vague." Goodwin's concern was clear. "I'm hopeful she'll show up, but for the patients I need to confirm that someone will be here. If she doesn't show up, I'm sure I could ask PD to do a welfare check on her."

"No need." Connor decided. "I'll drop by her place after work, see what's going on." He paused. "And yeah, I'll cover the surgeries."

**-Ghosts-**

She sat silently in the small office, the file she had been given the evening before resting on her lap. She'd given up on trying to memorise the finer details for the moment. She'd got the important stuff down, and if the amount of time being taken discussing her case was anything to go by, she had plenty of time before she'd even be going anywhere anyway. No one seemed to be in a hurry.

She let out a sigh. It had been over 12 hours since she had been taken from Hailey's apartment and rushed out of the city. The little sleep she'd had had been disrupted, the discomfort of the vehicle she had been in as well as the harsh lighting and noise of the road would have been more than enough to prevent a good night's sleep even if she hadn't been thinking overtime.

She wondered when everyone would realise she had gone, if they hadn't already. Wondered what they thought of her absence. Well, she knew what Connor thought. She knew that for him it would confirm his wild accusations. She couldn't say she wasn't grateful to be escaping those.

Still, she felt guilty. Leaving while he was grieving, not that he wanted her around. Disappearing in the wake of what happened to Will and Natalie. Sure, they weren't exactly close, but they were the closest thing she had allowed herself to have to friends in a long time. Outside of Hailey, of course, who didn't really count. Hailey was the only person she'd been able to be completely honest with in such a long time, that by this point she was family.

She was worried about the patients she was leaving behind, whether the hospital really would be asked to find cover. How that would be explained to them if they were. At least she didn't have to worry about the job. It wasn't as if she'd be allowed to return there anytime soon, if she was ever able to return at all. They'd replace her in a matter of weeks. They'd have to.

And her previous persona would be the prime suspect in a murder investigation.

That part still pained her. It didn't matter what name she was using, it was still her they'd be looking for. She'd poured everything she had into being Ava. Used her new identity to try and let go of the trauma in her past, to overcome the endless cycle of loss she had seemed to be caught in since before she'd been old enough to understand it.

And now not only was Ava gone, her reputation was ruined. Even if she was cleared at some point down the line, people would always wonder. She'd often thought that if this hell ended, she'd have liked to continue to be Ava, that she would choose her over her past life – as long as she could keep some aspects of that original life.

That couldn't happen now. She had to start again. Build a new life in a new place. Starting again from nothing had been difficult the last time, but then, at least, she hadn't really had the chance to build her own life – she'd barely finished med school after all. This time she had, and it was gone.

Everything was gone. Again.

She stood, moving to glance through the window of the office door, wondering how long they were planning on keeping her waiting. It must have been near two hours since she had been left alone. She knew there was a lot to sort, but she'd thought they'd at least have updated her. She'd heard nothing, and no one seemed to be approaching the room to give her any information.

At least the last time she'd experienced this she hadn't been alone.

**-Ghosts-**

"_Does it have to be all of us?"_

"_It does."_

"_And we can't be kept together?"_

"_It's safer for you all if you're separated."_

_John Morgan looked to his nieces and nephew, downhearted to only see three pairs of eyes looking back at him. Ella had always been a tough nut to crack, he hadn't expected it to be easy to get her to forgive him, but he'd hoped the thought of impending separation would soften her a little._

_He turned back to the official standing in front of him. "What about Chloe? She's a minor."_

"_It's all in hand."_

"_I'm her legal guardian."_

"_Like that's been any good for her."_

"_Ella."_

"_She could have died." Ella excused her comment, turning on her sibling. "YOU could have died."_

"_I didn't." Madison pointed out. "Neither did she."_

"_No thanks to him." She turned away from her uncle. "If Chloe stays with any of us, it should be me."_

"_Why you?"_

"_We all know responsibility isn't your thing, Matt."_

"_Ella." Madison repeated her earlier warning. "Now really isn't the time. When we leave here, we're probably not going to see each other for a while."_

_John watched the interactions. Ella's fury was nothing new. Madison was, as always, the peacemaker. Matt, even in the strangest of circumstances, still wanted reasoning for his sisters choices. Chloe, silent as ever, observing her siblings futile battles, even when she was right in the middle of it. He wished his sister could see them now._

"_You need to say your goodbyes." They'd almost forgotten there was anyone else in the room with them. "You'll leave here separately and be given your new identities. There must be no contact between any of you without approval."_

"_Kids," John let out a sigh. "I'm sorry for all of this."_

**-Ghosts-**

One of Ava's neighbours was out front when Connor stepped out of his car, making his way into the apartment building. The woman had left the door ajar, and he was grateful for that – at least he didn't need to rely on being buzzed in.

"She's not here."

He paused, turning to the neighbour he had just passed. "No?"

"Didn't come back last night. I know because some guy was asking after her. Got annoyed when I wouldn't let him go up, but I knocked for him. No answer."

"Who was it?"

"Hadn't seen him before. Didn't like him, or I would have let him go up."

"You're sure she's not there? That she didn't just not answer?"

"I guess it's possible, but the door to her place was open when I got back from work. Looked like the place had been cleared out." A pause. "Shouldn't you know this?"

He shook his head, sprinting further into the building and taking the stairs two at a time. It wasn't until he pushed open the ajar door to Ava's apartment that he realised the neighbour was correct. Everything was gone. The furniture, pictures (not that she ever had many), curtains, cutlery, even the food in the fridge had been removed. A strong smell of bleach was lingering in the air. Nothing had been missed. This was a professional job.

The place was spotless. Almost clinical, and he drew what he decided was the only logical conclusion.

Ava Bekker was on the run.

He made his way back to the door just in time to see her neighbour heading down the hallway.

"Hey, I just saw Carla, she lives downstairs. She said the feds took all your girl's stuff. Even the fish."

The feds? He knew not to read too much into it. He'd heard the term used to describe so many different groups over the years, especially by the overly suspicious, and that was a trait he had definitely noticed in many of Ava's neighbours. When they were dating he had expressed concern to her over it, why were they suspicious unless they had something to hide themselves? She'd laughed, told him they were just normal people and she liked them fine. He'd dropped it.

"That's odd."

"She thought so, but Carla said there was always a cop coming to see the doc and it was probably connected to that."

"A cop?"

"Pretty blonde woman. Carla says you and her were the only visitors doc ever had."

Pretty blonde? So he was right when he had assumed Ava and Hailey somehow knew each other. "Is there anything Carla doesn't notice?"

"Not really. She's on disability. Sees everything cause she's always here." The woman paused in her own doorway. "You done here?"

Connor nodded, quickly pulling out a pen, glad he always kept one on him. "You have any paper?"

"Sure." The woman nodded and he moved towards her, taking the notepad she offered him.

He scribbled down his number on the first page before handing it back to her. "If you see Ava, let me know."

**-Ghosts-**

Hailey stopped on the corner, turning to Jay. "You see anything?"

"Nope."

"They're here." She decided. "Gut feeling." She grasped the hem of his jacket, pulling him towards her and leaning up to whisper in his ear, "You ready to put on a show?"

He gave a chuckle as she stepped back, placing an arm around her shoulders as they began to walk. "Come on."

Hailey had been sure in her belief that Dalton respected men he believed were on his level, that if Jay could convince him he was a high-flyer in the drug world, he'd back off of Hailey a little if he believed they were together. She'd felt a little awkward making the suggestion, but it had seemed to put her partner at ease when he knew her reasoning.

She'd be lying if she didn't admit it felt a little weird, especially following the numerous moments there had been between them recently. Moments they were both perfectly happy to leave unaddressed if only so nothing would change.

"So, what are we doing for this anniversary?"

She let out a laugh. "What anniversary?"

"Our two year anniversary." He answered. "As of three weeks ago it's been two years since we met in that bank."

Another laugh. "Only you would remember that so late and still bring it up."

"You always tell me I need to be more romantic." He shrugged.

"You're a one-off, Ryan." She paused, spying a familiar face just ahead of them. "Are we stopping at that store? I could really do with a sugar high right now."

Jay followed her line of vision, spotting the figure standing in front of the store. "Yeah, why not."

They continued down the path, casually strolling past the man, playing it as if they hadn't spotted him. As they entered the store, they noticed as the man slipped away, heading quickly down the street and pulling out a phone.

It was official. Jess Hanshaw had been spotted.

**-Ghosts-**

"Has anybody told her?" Agent Stevens was walking fast as she entered the office building, flashing her badge and being granted access almost immediately, barely waiting for her team to do the same behind her.

"No." The response she had wanted came quickly. "You asked us not to, but she's been alone for hours, if she stops cooperating..."

"She won't." The agent stepped onto the elevator, barely waiting for her companions to step on behind her before hitting the button for the fourth floor. "That's not something we need to worry about."

She tapped her foot impatiently as the elevator moved, frustrated by it's lack of speed. For a secure building this place was sure in need of some major refurbishments.

Eventually the elevator stopped, the door opening what seemed excruciatingly slowly, and she stepped out, speeding down the hallway towards her destination.

The blonde was stretched out on a couch on the far end of the office as she entered, but quickly sat up.

"It's good to see you again."

The blonde frowned. "It's been what, seven years?"

The agent nodded. "Six and a half." She watched the now older woman glance over her shoulder. "We'll need to go over your testimony." A pause. "But first I'm afraid I have some bad news."

She saw the terror take over the young woman's eyes. "Are my family okay?"

Agent Stevens let out a sigh. "It's your brother. I'm afraid he was located last week."

"Matty..." The woman let out a sob. "Where is he?"

"He's in critical condition." Agent Stevens elaborated. "His wife was less fortunate. We're optimistic. Your brother has lucid moments. In one of these moments he requested that his son be taken to one of his sisters. He understands that this means he will be unable to see him should he recover."

"Matty has a child..." It wasn't a question. Ava had always known it was a possibility, but it was one she'd never really allowed herself to consider. The idea of her siblings having lives she knew nothing about hurt, even though she knew it was a reality. "Where is he?"

"With your sister. She was happy to take him."

Ava knew better than to question which one. It wasn't as if they'd tell her, and she had a good idea anyway. She had to admit, a part of her was glad this child hadn't been brought to her. She'd have agreed, she'd have had to, but after years making herself emotionally unavailable, she didn't trust herself to be able to give a child what they needed.

"And Matty? You said you're optimistic?"

"They're doing everything they can."

"You'll tell me?" Ava queried. "If anything happens."

Agent Stevens frowned. "If it's safe to."

**-Ghosts-**

Natalie Manning was relieved when she was finally wheeled out of the hospital, certain that they would have kept her in longer had she not been so adamantly difficult with the staff. She felt a little guilty about it, but not enough to make her deal with sitting around waiting. She was fine. A little memory loss wasn't life threatening, and she was sure Helen would be more than happy to help out more with Owen, even when her fiancé couldn't.

She sighed as they stopped moving, looking up to see Philip smiling at her. She hadn't told him that she didn't feel anything for him. If she'd agreed to marry him she must have at some point in time, so she assumed it was a matter of just waiting for it all to come back to her.

"I'm just going to go and get the car."

She nodded, slightly surprised that he hadn't already done so, but as he left, she took the opportunity to stand, taking the opportunity to go through her bag once more, confirming that she had everything. Her phone and purse were both there, as were her slippers. She felt something hit her foot as she rummaged, and glanced down to see her hospital ID resting on the ground where it had fallen. She groaned. She'd never be able to pick that up.

She was grateful when a stranger sprinted forward, scooping up the item and handing it to her.

"You work here?"

She nodded, deciding it was only right to be polite to the good Samaritan. "Yeah. Not right now though, obviously."

He casually glanced to his side before turning back to her. "Yeah. Do you by any chance know a Dr. Ava Bekker? I think she works here."

Natalie frowned. "Yes. She's not here today though. At least I don't think she is. You know her?"

"An old friend. From New York."

"New York?" She knew they weren't close, but she was sure Ava had never mentioned going to New York.

"Yeah, we go way back." He claimed. "Hey, could you call her? Really want to see her."

"I'm not sure..."

Natalie had the number, she knew that, but she wasn't so convinced that she should be getting the surgeon to come down there.

"Why not? You're friends, right?"

Natalie paused. "I don't actually know... We could be. Head injury."

The man nodded, and she noticed an SUV pull up beside them. That definitely wasn't Philip.

The stranger grabbed her arm. "Guess you could come with me instead."


	6. Chapter 6

As the door closed to the two-bedroom townhouse, she sighed. She was alone once again. Alone in a strange town, in a home that didn't really feel like her own. Only this time it was different. When she'd first been moved, she'd left with the knowledge that her family were all safe. That for now, this way was for the best. This time she knew better. Her brother could potentially be on his death bed. Her sisters and uncle were being hunted down. Her nephew, a child she had never met, had just lost his mother, been snatched from the only home he'd ever known and placed with someone who was a stranger to him.

Then there was the family she found. She'd been traced, and although she'd been moved in time (albeit barely), they were all left behind, still in Chicago, still unknowingly in the place where all her nightmares seemed to be converging at once. She knew enough about those after her to know that they wouldn't think twice about using anyone they thought necessary to get to her, and between them, everyone she knew there was going through enough. They didn't need any of this.

She moved slowly through the property, moving room to room, familiarising herself with her new surroundings. It was sparsely furnished, but there wasn't much she could do about that, other than hope some of her own furnishings would somehow find their way to her. It's not as if she could easily buy replacements – she couldn't access her own money any more. Sure, it would be waiting for her if this situation ever resolved, but that could take years, maybe even decades. She couldn't wait that long.

The house wasn't her style. She was a city girl, and they'd just dropped her in small town Maine without a second though. She didn't know how to fit in in a place like this, she'd never had to, although she'd admit that years ago, she would have accepted it if it meant being able to ditch that accent. Now though, it was a part of her. She hardly even recognised the sound of her own voice, but now she'd have to get used to it again. Kate Anderson was no Ava Bekker.

That feeling of unease that she generally always got whenever she moved seemed stronger this time. A gut instinct that something was wrong. It wasn't until she had left the office building that she had realised she had never been told how Matthew had been tracked down. She knew how they'd found her (or at least how she had been told they found her), but it seemed unlikely that her brother had been found in a similar way at the same time. She'd been unable to reason away her concerns in her head, but knew better than to vocalise them to the marshals she had been with. They'd never have answered, and she doubted it would be helpful if they believed she was accusing them of something.

She pulled out her cell phone, at least, the new one she had been handed earlier that day. There wasn't much she could even do with it, though. The only numbers on the device were Agent Stevens and the two new marshals assigned to her case. She wasn't so desperate for contact that she wanted to speak to one of them, and ever since she became Ava she had only ever memorised three numbers. Her first marshal, Hailey, and Connor...

Calling Connor wasn't an option, and even if it was she knew he wouldn't want to hear from her. She was tempted to call Hailey though, despite knowing the berating she would get for breaking the rules. It was a risk though, to Hailey as well as to herself, and she wasn't willing to potentially sacrifice the one person in the world who really knew her just to hear a friendly voice on the other end of the phone.

She threw the object down. It was late. She was exhausted, too tired to even acknowledge just how little she had eaten that day. She'd figure things out tomorrow. For now, she needed to sleep.

**-Ghosts-**

"What do you mean missing?" Sharon Goodwin had had stressful days before, but nothing had quite managed to reach the stress levels of this day. "You mean she was discharged?"

"No." The security guard frowned. "The guy she was with went to get the car, came back and she was gone. Her bag was on the ground."

"Could she have left on her own?"

"Witness saw her getting dragged into an SUV. We're checking the CCTV now. PD have already been called."

"How could this happen?!"

Goodwin knew how it could happen. It wouldn't be the first time that someone had been abducted in broad daylight, even if it wasn't common. She just didn't understand why someone would even want to abduct Natalie Manning. She didn't come from wealth, she didn't seem the sort to make enemies of people. It just didn't make sense.

"She didn't seem to put up much of a fight."

Goodwin nodded, massaging her temples as a thought hit her. She looked up at the man. "Can you check last night's CCTV too."

"What for?"

"Ava Bekker." She paused. "I want to see what time she left. Make sure no one grabbed her too."

"She's missing?"

"I'm not sure. I've been told she won't be here tomorrow by an unknown third party, and Dr. Rhodes has told me her apartment has been cleared out, apparently by persons unknown."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It doesn't." Goodwin agreed. "I would like to speak to PD when they arrive."

He nodded, taking the cue to step out of the room, moving away from the office quickly just as Dr. Rhodes stepped in.

"Have you made a decision?"

Goodwin glanced up at him, knowing what he was referring to. "I shall be reporting her missing shortly."

"I just don't think she's missing." Connor shrugged. "She killed my father and she left."

"Dr. Rhodes," She let out a sigh. "Dr. Manning was abducted earlier today."

His brow furrowed. "What?"

"So you see why I'm not so inclined to believe that Dr. Bekker left of her own volition." She paused for a long moment before informing him of the next news. "The CCTV outside your father's room was cut around the time the fatal dose was administered, but the whole floor was not out. Dr. Bekker was in view of two cameras and a nurse at the time. She is no longer considered a person of interest in your father's case."

"It..." He paused. "It wasn't her?"

"It seems not."

He sat down in one of the chairs opposite her desk. "I was so sure..."

"I know." She commented. "Maybe this will teach you to look for evidence before making accusations."

"If she's ran because of this... because of what I thought."

"I'm not convinced she's ran anywhere." Goodwin reminded him. "Don't overestimate your own importance." The phone rang, and Goodwin took a moment to answer it. Only giving confirmation before hanging up. "Officer Burgess is on her way up."

Connor nodded, still somewhat frozen in the chair. Goodwin opted to give him a minute, allowing the room to fall silent until they were interrupted by a knock.

"Come in."

The brunette had closed the door behind her before she had realised Connor was in the room, but didn't seem all that fazed by his presence.

"We've closed off the entrance to the ED, it's being treated as a crime scene."

Goodwin nodded. "Security are reviewing the tapes now, and I've asked them to cover last night too."

"Last night?"

"We have another doctor missing."

Neither of them missed the flash of recognition in Kim's eyes before she acknowledged the words. "Who?"

"Dr. Bekker." Goodwin elaborated. "I received a phone call this morning claiming she wouldn't be in tomorrow. Dr. Rhodes went to check on her to find that her apartment as been cleared out."

Kim nodded. "And she wasn't moving?"

"I'd have been notified." Goodwin responded. "As is protocol."

Another nod. "We'll look into it."

Connor suddenly stood up, as if he had just had an epiphany. "I thought Voight said you guys had some big case right now."

The officer sighed, taking a moment to decide how to word her response. "It's possible Dr. Manning's abduction and Dr. Bekker's disappearance are connected to the case."

"That's a new one." Connor scoffed. "Psycho goes round snatching doctors off the street."

Kim looked back to Goodwin. "I'm going to get back down there. We'll need statements from both of you later on."

They waited until the officer had left the room and had time to make it some way down the hallway before either of them spoke.

"She knew Ava was gone."

Goodwin nodded. "She definitely knew _someone _was gone."

**-Ghosts-**

"They definitely saw us come up here." Jay commented, moving to the window of the unfamiliar apartment. He took a step back, glancing around the room. "This is pretty nice for our first place together."

Hailey rolled her eyes at the comment. "Yeah, I always dreamed of a coffee table that doubles as a place to hide coke."

"Coke isn't the only thing it can hide."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Can you two stop flirting?"

They both laughed at Atwater's comment. They'd been wondering for a while when he would object to it. At one point they'd even started playing it up to try and get a reaction. Knowing that not only did he have to listen to every word, he had to do so while sitting in a cramped van with two people he barely knew.

"And yeah." Their friend added. "They saw you go up there. Got two guys watching the building now."

"Thanks Kev." Jay answered, looking over to his partner, who seemed to be staring at the closed refrigerator. "Hails?"

"They've really gone all in on the detail." She stepped back, allowing him to see the pictures of the two of them plastered on it. "Where did they even get these?"

"Probably Kim." Jay shrugged. "You know what she's like."

Hailey nodded, now that she thought about it, Kim did seem to take a lot of pictures. It made sense that she would have some of the two of them. "It's all about the little things." She turned, noticing that her partner was watching the window again. "Can you come away from there? Don't spook them."

He took a step back, moving to sit on the couch and flicking on the TV. "I know you said they worked fast, but it wasn't even ten minutes after that first guy spotted us that another three showed up."

"I told you they don't hang around. Now we just have to wait for Dalton's men to make contact." She frowned. "That probably won't be until tomorrow. Now they've got their confirmation, they'll approach."

"And take us to Dalton."

"Only if you can't get Dalton to come to you." They both rolled their eyes at the agent's reminder. They all knew that wasn't going to happen.

Hailey moved to join Jay on the couch, placing two sodas on the coffee table in front of them.

"What, no beer?"

"You need to keep a clear head, detective."

"Well aren't they fun."

Hailey laughed. "Come on, there's gotta be a game on somewhere."

**-Ghosts-**

Kim took the stairs two at a time, sidestepping a few unfamiliar faces to get upstairs. She paused, noticing the FBI agent in Voight's office, she'd have to wait to update him. She knew better than to let on to the FBI that she knew who their witness was without at least running it by him first. She sat, glancing around the area. It was strange seeing so many unfamiliar faces, especially with all of her own colleagues, bar her boss, absent. Antonio was in rehab, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew he was unlikely to be returning. Ruzek, although released, was far from being reinstated. Halstead and Upton were undercover, Atwater was out on the field with them. Monitoring, but remaining unseen. She could have taken the task herself, but he had known she would hate sitting in a van with two FBI agents potentially for days, so had saved her from the task by volunteering.

That left her alone with Voight, and the dozen or so agents that had taken over the precinct. Officially, she acknowledged, they weren't there. No one wanted to risk tipping off the target. She doubted they'd be able to stay in the shadows for long if they kept sending more agents.

"Burgess, isn't it?"

She looked up, noting the woman Voight had been talking to had now approached her. "Anything at the hospital?"

"Seems the perp was talking to the victim before grabbing her. No real indication that she knows him, but she did drop something before he approached. Looked like some kind of ID."

"Possibly identifying her as hospital staff." Agent Stevens reasoned. "Most likely one of our guys."

She moved across the room, whispering something to another agent, who immediately stood and sped down the stairs.

Kim took the opportunity she had been given and stood, making her way into Voight's office and slowly shutting the door.

He'd looked up at her as she entered, keeping silent to enable her to speak.

"I know who their witness is."

Voight found himself sitting up in his chair. He'd been frustrated by their lack of transparency on that front, but had understood it, even if it meant Hailey having to continue to keep quiet about something. "How did you find out?"

"I was speaking to Goodwin and Rhodes, they mentioned that Ava Bekker disappeared shortly before Natalie. Agent Harris let slip that the witness was someone from the hospital, she seems to be the only other person that's gone."

"Makes sense." Voight nodded. "You told anyone else?"

"No."

"Good." Voight nodded. "Don't. Don't even let on to Hailey that you know."

Kim nodded. "How does it make sense?"

She hadn't been sure about asking the question, but figured in the end there was no harm in it. Voight didn't have to answer.

He watched her for a moment. "Hailey mentioned that her witness would probably come up as a suspect in the Rhodes murder." He paused, noting her curiosity. "She did. Homicide have cleared her. Doesn't look like they even know she's gone."

"At least that means they're not looking for her."

"Might be better if they were."

Kim frowned as she watched him glance at the agents milling around outside his office. "You don't think she's safe with them?"

"They shouldn't know where she is," Voight reminded her. "but I don't trust them. One witness being located, sure it happens, but from what they've been saying and what Hailey has suggested, they've recently moved at least eight. It sounds like another one is hurt."

"You think they have a leak?"

"I think someone does."

**-Ghosts-**

"What is this?"

"She wasn't there. So we got you some leverage instead."

"I don't need leverage. I need those witnesses gone."

"They must have moved her."

"Because you all got sloppy. No one should have seen you coming."

Natalie had opted not to struggle against the man grasping her arms behind her back. It was futile, and she knew she had to be smarter than that. It wasn't easy when she didn't really know what they wanted. All that she understood was that it had something to do with Ava.

"I'll find out how they they did."

Rick Dalton stood, his arms crossed, observing the two men and the unfamiliar woman they had brought to him. "Forget the Downes witnesses. I've got someone else for the job. Someone that won't let me down."

"Who?"

He glanced to the images on his desk. Ones he had printed out copies of as soon as he'd got them. As he looked back up, he smirked. "Jess Hanshaw."

"Hanshaw? She died in New York years ago."

"Apparently not, and if her explanation as to why she ghosted is sufficient, you may be finding yourselves surplus to requirements." He looked to the woman. "You're Natalie." He stepped from around the desk, approaching her. "I must apologise. I always tell them not to take people that will be missed unless it's absolutely necessary. They should know better." He turned, stepping back to his desk and glancing at the photos again, smiling to himself. "Tell me, Natalie, who's the best person to contact," He faced her again. "To negotiate your safe return."


	7. Chapter 7

_Hailey Upton was nervous. She'd been expecting the call to come for some time, but now it had, and she was sitting in a car, mere moments away from arriving at an agreed location in New York, her anxiety had peaked. If things went right, she'd be heading back home by the end of the day, they'd have freed a hostage, and arrested one of the FBI's most wanted. If things went wrong, a kid could get killed, and if she was lucky she'd have to remain undercover. If she was unlucky, she'd be dead too._

_She barely reacted as a hand brushed her thigh, she'd grown used to Rick's inappropriate advances over the past year, and she'd never exactly had the luxury of objecting to them – she needed him to like her, and rejecting him wouldn't have achieved that. At least he had accepted her claim that she didn't mix business and pleasure, and had never tried to cross too many lines, though she had a feeling that would change the longer she was under._

"_I'm glad you could make the journey with me." Rick smiled, leaning just a little too close to her than she would have liked. He gestured to Chloe. "The brat annoys me a little less when you're here."_

_Hailey regretted every action she had taken to make the teenager terrified of her, but it had been necessary. Chloe needed to believe that she was the enemy, she couldn't risk the girl's behaviour changing in any way that may tip Dalton off to her true intentions._

"_Her sister better show up."_

"_She will." Dalton was certain. "Her uncle knows what will happen if he decides to play games. If he shows up himself, or the boy shows up, Chloe here will be departing."_

_Hailey nodded, she knew what he meant by that, and every time it came up a wave a nausea overcame her. It sickened her that he would so blunt about a child's life. The FBI confirmed that one of the sisters would be there, but hadn't specified which one, she assumed they hadn't let her know so she had no chance of slipping up._

_The car stopped, and she stepped out of the car, shutting the door behind her and glancing around the area, not making a move until two others had stepped out of the car that had stopped behind them. The three nodded to each other, heading off to check around the seemingly deserted area, warehouses blocking the view either side of them. She knew the FBI were close, she'd given them every detail she could of Dalton's preparations, she just didn't have a clue where they had opted to hide while they knew the area was being searched._

_She 'cleared' her search zone, heading back to the cars and noticing the two men had opted to stop for a cigarette. She could use that later if she needed to. She banged on the car door three times, a signal to Dalton, "It's clear." and stepped back, enabling him to leave the car himself, dragging his hostage behind him._

_He nodded to her, before turning to the others. "No smoke breaks!"_

_Chloe was violently shoved into Hailey's arms, and she took her cue, pulling the girl towards the agreed upon warehouse. The plan was for them to never arrive there. Dalton fell into step by her side, soon joined by the others. Only the drivers remained at the cars. They were approaching the target warehouse when they saw her, standing outside the door. Hailey stopped, catching the darkened alleyway in the corner of her eye. All was going to plan so far._

"_You got my money?"_

_The young woman stepped forward, and Chloe opened her mouth as if to speak. Then the gunfire started. That wasn't to plan. They were meant to be trying to take them all alive. The escape plan was meant to be a last resort._

_She heard one of the men behind them fall, and in less than a second had grasped the teenager, pulling her down the alleyway. Run. Now her role was to run, take the girl and run, not worry about where Dalton got to. Not worry about the fate of the sister potentially caught in the crossfire._

_She didn't stop until she was far enough away that she couldn't hear the shots, then she turned, checking over the teenager. "Are you okay? You're good?"_

_Chloe nodded, her fearful eyes darting around the area. "I'm sorry."_

"_Sorry?"_

"_I didn't know." The girl was stuttering, but Hailey caught on quick._

"_That's okay." She smiled. "I did." She pulled the shaking teenager into a hug, before taking a step back, grasping her hand. "Come on, we can't hang around here."_

_They were only a few blocks away from the agreed meeting place, she realised, and she was suddenly impressed by how far the teen had ran without any complaints._

_They moved into a residential area, their hands still connected, and within minutes, had entered the FBI safe house she had been given the address of._

"_Package acquired. Suspect down." She gave a brief smile of acknowledgement to the agent that opened the door as they walked past, laughing slightly at the words he had spoken. Even if she hadn't just heard confirmation of her 'death' being given on the off chance one of Dalton's people could hear the transmissions, it was like some bad spy movie. _

"_Who was that?" Chloe questioned. "Why are we here?"_

"_Baby!"_

_Chloe turned away from Hailey, stunned as she was pulled into her uncle's arms and lifted up. "Uncle John?" She turned to Hailey, "Why would you..."_

_Hailey smiled, holding out a hand as John released his niece. "Officer Upton, Chicago PD." She looked behind John, noticing the other figures in the room with them. "Agent Martinez."_

_The man nodded. "Good work, officer."_

_Chloe was watching her warily, staring at the hand she was still holding out. "You're a cop?"_

_Hailey nodded, moving her hand to her side. It was obvious the girl wasn't ready for that. She looked back to the agent in the room. "Any news?"_

"_Not yet." He reported, looking to the teenager. "We need to get a statement from her. She okay to talk?"_

"_Physically she's fine, shaken up, though." Although Hailey had known they'd want a statement quickly, she had hoped they would at least wait until Agent Stevens arrived._

_He nodded, moving forward and gesturing to Chloe. "This way."_

_Chloe glanced at her uncle, who nodded in encouragement, only looking to Hailey when his youngest charge was safely out of the room. "You were at the scene?" As she nodded, he continued. "Where's Maddie?"_

_Hailey sighed, realising that Madison must have been the sister back at the warehouses. That meant it was Ella standing behind their uncle with her brother. "I don't know, I'm sorry. My only focus was Chloe." She moved to take her jacket off, frowning at the looks on the family's faces when she did. "What?"_

"_Are you okay?"_

_She followed their gazes to her right side, noticing the blood staining her shirt. She hadn't even realised she had been hit. Slowly she pulled up the shirt, noticing the gash underneath it. She looked back to them. "Looks like it's just a graze. I'll be fine."_

_Ella frowned, moving forward. "Let me take a look."_

**-Ghosts-**

"That one?" Jay traced the scar with his finger as Hailey laid back on the grass. It was faded, she knew that, the injury hadn't been too serious (although more serious than she had initially thought), but it was still visible enough to be noticed by anyone who was looking properly.

"That tickles, you know." She didn't really see how he could be impressed. He had plenty of scars of his own. She sat up, shifting herself so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "It's really annoying."

He kissed her forehead. "Not as annoying as that fountain over there."

She glanced towards it, sure to make it look like she was looking past it, noticing the men walking around it that seemed to be heading in their direction. "Well that is annoying." She let out a long sigh. "I guess we better get some work done, Ry."

"Wait to confirm they're approaching."

They both rolled their eyes at the sound of the agent's voice in their ears. The closer the men got, there was no doubt they were approaching. Still, neither of them looked up until the shadows of their visitors were providing them unwanted shade.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"Oh my god!" Hailey announced after looking up, following the action by standing. "How long has it been?" She frowned, leaning into Jay as he stood behind her. "Who said I was dead?"

"Rick wants to see you."

"Rick's alive?!" She was sure to sound surprised, and didn't comment on her questions going unanswered. "I thought the Feds got him in New York."

"Rick?" Jay put in. "The guy that got you shot, Rick?"

Hailey let out a laugh that her partner knew was fake. "It's in the past." She turned back to the men. "How'd he get away?"

"He can tell you that himself."

"Didn't he try and find me? Do you know how difficult it was to get out of the city with an injury like that?"

"Ask him yourself."

"Where is he?" Hailey questioned, sounding enthused. "Ry, you're gonna love Rick." She looked back to them. "Is he here?"

"He's in the city." The man handed her a slip of paper, and she knew instantly it was an address. "He's expecting you at 5."

**-Ghosts-**

Sharon Goodwin frowned, unable to bring herself to open the envelope that had been placed on her desk. It hadn't been delivered by conventional means, having been handed to Maggie in the ED by someone neither of them recognised, and who CCTV hadn't been all that successful at picking up, and it was that that had led her to call Voight. He'd asked her to sit tight, Burgess was on her way.

It was taking her some time, though, and Goodwin assumed that had something to do with the Chicago traffic. She couldn't say she minded, she wasn't exactly looking forward to finding out what was in this envelope. It didn't seem likely that it would be anything good.

The time came, though, forty five minutes after the call to Voight, and the man himself stepped into her office, Burgess behind him.

"Sharon."

She gestured to the envelope, and with a gloved hand he picked it up, peeling it open and pulling out the contents without hesitation. Two photos, a slip of paper between them. When he turned them over, allowing her to see the images, her heart sank. One a copy of the image from Natalie's ID, the other a candid shot of Ava that seemed to be several years old, definitely from before anyone at the hospital knew her.

Hank was focused on the slip of paper, and for a moment she thought it must be a long note, but when he turned it over so she could read it, she saw that it wasn't.

_Tell the feds we want to trade._

A number was scrawled underneath the words. Their only means of contact.

**-Ghosts-**

Ava woke with a start, taking a moment to listen to the pounding on the door before making any attempt to answer it. She wasn't sure how long she had slept, but the light pouring in through the window suggested it was around noon, and her slumber had lasted quite a while. She felt like she'd barely slept at all. She decided she could probably put that down to a combination of the emotional turmoil of the past few days, and the fact that, due to her exhaustion, she had allowed herself to pass out on the far from comfortable couch.

The pounding continued, and she slowly stood, moving over to the window to check the identity of the person who had disturbed her. She almost scowled at the sight of the marshal at her door, but knew she should have expected the visit. They always tended to check in more those first few days, it had happened when she'd first entered the programme, and again when she had first moved to Chicago.

She shuffled to the door, wearily opening it and stepping back, allowing the woman to enter.

"Brought you some emergency supplies." The visitor pulled some bags in with her, before closing the door behind her. "Just some food, clothes, toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush, that sort of thing."

Ava nodded. If she was honest she hadn't given any of those things a second thought. Brushing her hair was the least of her concerns right now. "What about my stuff in Chicago?"

"I'm hoping we'll be able to get some of the essentials, but for now we need to make do."

Ava couldn't help but roll her eyes, there was no 'we' about it. This woman got to go home to her own house, where her family were probably waiting for her. She got to call her friends, meet them for lunch, go to work to do a job she had always done. She didn't really have a clue.

"Is there any news on my brother?"

The woman looked confused. "Your brother?"

"Agent Stevens told me he was hurt." Ava elaborated."Are there any updates?"

"I wouldn't know anything about that." She gave an annoyingly inappropriate smile. "I wouldn't worry."

"He was critical."

"I'm sure it's all in hand."

"Can you check?"

"I'm sure I'll be told if there's anything you need to know."

Ava groaned, moving back into the living room, frowning when she was followed. Maybe she should have been clearer that that was the marshal's cue to leave. She sat, turning on the TV and proceeding to flip through the channels, frustrated by the limited availability.

"You know, you should make an effort with your new neighbours, make some friends."

The comment was met with an eye roll. "Or the FBI could do their jobs, find Dalton, and I could go and be with my brother in hospital."

"I'm sure it's difficult, being unable to go to him..."

"I'm used to difficult. This is worse."

The marshal sighed. "I'll see if I can get you an update. I can't promise anything."

When she finally made her way out the door, securely closing it behind her, Ava allowed herself to fall back on the couch, continuing to go through the channels. She'd just hit the button again when she paused, quickly hitting back, half-expecting to see that her mind had been playing tricks on her, that she hadn't seen what she thought she had.

"... seen since she was forced into a car outside the hospital two nights ago." Ava was barely making sense of the words, her panic increasing at Natalie's image on the screen. "Investigating officers ask that anyone that was in the area and may have seen something please come forward."

She wanted to believe it was a coincidence, but her gut told her it wasn't. Just the fact that it was getting national coverage suggested that there was reason to believe state lines had been crossed, that Natalie may no longer be in Illinois. Dalton had crossed state lines with Chloe numerous times, even after the FBI had started looking for them.

The image on the screen changed, and suddenly the words were being drowned out as she found herself looking at the grainy CCTV image of a man she hadn't seen in years. A man that six and a half years ago she had been identifying in a photo line-up.

She lunged forward, grabbing the cell she had been given, dialling one of the few numbers she had memorised.

"Hey, this is Upton, I can't take your call right now, leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can."

"Dammit, Hailey." She ended the call, not caring that the detective wouldn't exactly be expecting the bluntness of the short message. She'd needed her to answer, and most of the time she did. Now really wasn't a good time for that to be different.

She knew she shouldn't. But she needed to find a way to check in, a way to make sure Hailey knew that Dalton had Natalie, that he was back and someone needed to do something, and if Hailey wouldn't answer, she only had one option...

**-Ghosts-**

Connor had given up trying to make sense of the past few days. He'd always believed he never really knew who Ava was, but now he was beginning to wonder if he literally didn't know who she was. That everything he knew about her was a lie, and one that had led him to believe things that weren't true.

Could she really blame him for thinking the worst of her when she told him nothing?

But could he really blame her for telling him nothing if she really was in danger?

He wasn't entirely convinced of Goodwin's theory. Kim could have known Ava was gone because Hailey knew, it didn't necessarily mean something was wrong, maybe she just hadn't realised Ava had left without telling anyone at work. It was just as likely, Ava had always been secretive. There didn't have to be some big conspiracy behind her vanishing act. The Natalie situation could be unrelated.

It was possible.

He was expected in work later, covering Ava's surgeries. He needed to focus his mind in time for those, risking something going wrong wasn't an option, especially when they weren't his patients. They'd have enough complaints that Ava wasn't there without giving them any more ammunition against the hospital.

He just hoped he could focus more on them than he was able to focus on the game currently playing on his TV.

Picking up the coffee he had made, he took a gulp, throwing his head back on the couch. He had to laugh, really. It was just like Ava, causing him all this stress, even if there was a chance she had never intended to. It seemed everything with her was stressful for him, whether that was through her actions or his own beliefs he didn't know. It was probably a bit of both.

When his cell rang, it took him a moment to register the sound, and when he did pick it up he frowned at the fact that the number had been withheld. That didn't happen often.

"Hello?"

"Please don't hang up."

"Ava?" He paused, not entirely sure he was correct in his guess, but deciding to proceed as if he was. "Where are you?"

"It doesn't matter." She seemed agitated. "Look, I can't get hold of Hailey, I need you to find her and tell her that _he _has got her, okay. She'll know what it means."

"He's got who?" Connor questioned. "Is this about Natalie?"

"Just tell Hailey!"

"Kim's on Natalie's case."

He heard the blonde let out a frustrated sigh and almost laughed. "Then tell Kim to tell Hailey."

"So it is about Natalie?"

"Can you tell her or not?"

He frowned. "Yeah, I guess. When will you be back?"

The dial tone made him aware that she had hung up, leaving his question unanswered, with many more on his mind. Why did it bother him that he had been her second choice? That she'd obviously tried to contact Hailey first. Where was she? And why would the detective be able to so easily understand her cryptic messages?

And even more bizarre...

What had happened to her accent?


	8. Chapter 8

Hailey was laughing as they approached the gates of the property, grateful that Jay, despite his own concerns, was managing to calm her nerves somewhat. She knew there was a lot riding on this, that the FBI needed her to get Dalton out of this fortress, away from his men, where he'd be easier to arrest. No amount of preparation could get her ready for that kind of pressure.

"No risks, detective."

The little voice in her ear was beginning to get irritating. She'd done this before and she'd been far less experienced then. If they had ever had reason to doubt she knew what she was doing, it was 7 years ago, not now.

She hit the buzzer on the gate, leaning against the brickwork. Jay stood beside her, waiting for a response.

"Name?"

Hailey couldn't help but smile at the familiar voice. The guy had just joined the business years ago, and he'd been out of his depth. She'd hoped that one day he'd get out, but she'd always known that wasn't likely. Either way, it was nice to hear he was still alive. Dalton had never liked him much, and because of that she'd always feared for him

"It's Hanshaw."

They heard a buzz, then a small click, and she pushed the now unlocked gate.

They were in.

"Fancy." Jay commented, nudging her as they walked up the driveway, reaching the steps just as the front door opened.

"Rick's out back. Wait here."

She frowned at the interaction. She hadn't known what kind of a reaction she would get from those she knew all those years ago, but she and Mark had got on, and she hadn't expected that. She reached backwards, grasping Jay's hand, glad she didn't have to go into this alone this time, and glanced back at him with a brief smile when he squeezed her own hand in an act of reassurance.

"Jessie!"

They both turned at the sound of the voice, taking in the man walking into the foyer. Jay had seen pictures of the man, but Rick Dalton wasn't quite what he had expected. He was shorter than he'd imagined, and much skinnier, far from the intimidating figure he had assumed they would be meeting.

"Rick." Hailey faked a smile, dropping Jay's hand and closing the gap between herself and Dalton, allowing him to pull her into a hug. "It's been so long."

She pulled away, and Jay was back by her side within seconds, an arm around her shoulders.

Rick watched him with interest. "Who's this?"

"This is Ryan." Hailey looked to her partner and smiled. "He's my guy."

Rick nodded. If he was bothered by the information, he didn't let it show. "You the one that's kept her away from me all these years?"

Hailey let out a laugh. "I figured when you didn't look for me you expired that day with the feds."

"They wish." Dalton seemed amused by the thought. "What happened to you?"

"Grabbed the girl and ran." At least that part of the answer was honest. " They were everywhere, so I had to ditch her to get away. Bastards still managed to do some damage though."

"Yeah?"

"Bullet to the gut. Couldn't get it treated until I left the city. Not unless I wanted to get caught." She paused. "So how'd you get away?"

"Lets just say keeping the drivers in the cars was a good idea." He smirked. "The feds didn't even try to take them out."

"They just tried to take Jess out."

"Ryan," Hailey turned to Jay, glad he was following through on the protective boyfriend angle she believed Dalton was likely to respect. "It's fine. I'm good."

Jay let out an emphasised sigh, glaring over her at the man. "What you want anyway?"

Rick's eyes narrowed, taking in the man he hadn't foreseen the arrival of. "Jess is a valuable member of my team."

"Was." Jay corrected. "She was. Not any more."

"I'm afraid you'll never be able to keep a girl like Jessie here out of the game forever."

"Why would I want her out of it? We make a lot of profit." Jay watched as the man's expression changed. He obviously hadn't expected to hear that. "She has a gift."

Rick took a moment, eyeing Hailey curiously. "That she does." He paused, as if considering his next move, before heading towards a door. "Come, we have lots to discuss."

**-Ghosts-**

It was early evening when Voight got a call asking Burgess meet Platt downstairs, and, despite seeming a little reluctant to leave while there were still a few FBI agents hanging around, he decided to go with her, it seemed urgent, and he didn't think anyone else would be leaving any time soon. When he'd handed them the evidence that Natalie's abduction and their case were linked that morning, evidence that told them Dalton somehow seemed to know that the FBI were already in town, things seemed to have gone into overdrive. Right now, there were no other cases.

He was surprised to see Connor Rhodes standing by the desk. He had assumed he wouldn't see much of him once he had taken Atwater off of his father's case. The man seemed somewhat distracted though, only realising that they were there when they had already approached.

"I need to get a message to Detective Upton." He didn't wait to be spoken to, getting straight to the point.

"She's on assignment, won't be around for a while."

"She wanted it passed on."

"Who?" Although Kim had an idea she already knew the answer. "Is this something we should be discussing privately?"

Connor nodded. "Probably."

Voight nodded, making a gesture that Kim knew was an invitation to the cage.

They remained silent until they had arrived, stepping into the space and ensuring they were alone before anyone continued.

"Who's the message from?"

"Ava."

Voight nodded. "And what is it?"

"She wanted me to tell Hailey that _he _has her." Connor was sure to emphasise the "he" as Ava had when she gave him the message. "It was about Natalie, I know that much."

Kim looked to her boss. "If she already knows, it could just be a matter of time until she acts on it."

Voight nodded. "How did she sound?"

Connor shrugged. "Okay, I guess." He opted not to mention her vanishing accent. "She didn't stay on the line long."

"What number did she call from?"

"Withheld."

"And you think she tried to call Upton first?"

"She said she couldn't get hold of her."

Voight turned to Kim. "Where's Upton's cell phone?"

"Locked in my desk drawer. She said she wanted me to keep it in case she got any important calls that needed answering, but I haven't checked it."

"Check it."

Kim nodded, rushing out of the room.

"You think she left a message?"

Voight watched the doctor carefully. "No."

"So you think she'll call back?"

"Maybe." He noted the other man's confused face. "If she doesn't hear from Upton she could call back believing the message wasn't passed on."

Connor had to admit, that made sense. He couldn't guarantee she would trust him to pass on the message, especially with how things had been between them recently. How things still were between them to some extent. "What if she doesn't call back?"

"I'm hoping she won't need to." Voight acknowledged Connor's confusion once again. "She withheld the number when she called you, might not have when she called Upton."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence, and Connor wondered if he should take the moment to leave. He'd passed the message on, and he couldn't see Voight being more transparent with him. He'd hoped Kim would be, but when Platt hadn't been able to get hold of her she had called Voight instead. There was no chance of anything being given away with Voight there. It had been a long shot with Kim but at least it would have been possible. She was just a little easier to read.

"When did she call you?"

"Um," Connor hesitated. "Late morning."

"Then why did you take so long let us know?"

"I had to work. I've been covering Ava's surgeries. A lot of them can't wait."

"Natalie can?" Voight was blunt. "Ava can?"

Connor didn't get the chance to answer, both of them turning as Kim re-entered the room, phone in hand. "We need to get back up there. Looks like..." She trailed off, glancing to Connor before changing her words, "the offender said something concerning." She looked to the phone. "There's a message." She'd already unlocked it before passing it to her boss.

Voight looked to Connor. "Thanks for coming in. We'll take it from here."

Connor trailed behind them as they headed out of the intimidating room, and neither of them spoke until they had watched him leave the building.

"They tell you what he said?"

"They got confirmation that Natalie is there." Kim nodded. "And he told Hailey where the witnesses are."

**-Ghosts-**

Ava woke with a start, instinctively throwing herself onto the floor. The sound repeated. Another thud, only this time it was followed by the sound of splintering wood. Someone was inside the house.

She made a grab for her phone, hesitating briefly as she saw a missed call from Hailey's number, and another few from Agent Stevens, before unlocking it and scrolling to the number of one of the marshals.

"Drop it."

She had just been about to dial when the order had came, and she slowly looked up, coming face to face with an unfamiliar man as her phone clattered to the floor. She looked down from his face to the distinctive clothing he had on. The badge around his neck.

Police?

She didn't say anything, remained motionless on the floor. She really had no idea what this could be about, she hadn't left the house since she had arrived.

"I need you to gather whatever you need." The man spoke, but she was barely hearing him. "We're taking you into protective custody."

She continued to stare for a second, before finally speaking up. "How do I know that?"

As if on cue, the phone began ringing again, and she lunged for it, slightly reassured when no one moved to stop her.

"Hello?"

"Do not panic." Agent Stevens was annoyingly calm. "Local PD are on their way to pick you up right now."

"I think we're past that."

"They're there?"

"Broke down the door." Ava couldn't help but be irritated. "I'm being moved again?"

"No. We'll be placing you in protective custody."

"What's happened?"

"All you need to know is that we are doing everything we can to ensure your safety."

She sighed, hanging up the phone in frustration before standing. "I need to get dressed."

The officer nodded, taking a step back, enabling her to notice the two officers stood behind him. She moved to grab some clothes, pausing briefly as the man left the room, leaving the door ajar and instructing her to stay away from the windows. As soon as she was dressed, she gathered up the rest of what little she had, placing it in one of the bags the marshal had brought by and headed downstairs, phone in hand.

The door was off it's hinges, and she noticed another officer standing guard at it, one of those that had been upstairs standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her. The others, she could tell from their footsteps, were checking around the house.

"The phone stays here, I'm afraid." The woman gave a small smile. "Wouldn't want it being traced."

Ava nodded, throwing the item through the nearby living room door and onto the couch.

The other officers came back in, suddenly in more of a hurry than they had seemed before. "We have to move. Now."

**-Ghosts-**

He'd struggled to sleep, Voight's comments about Ava and Natalie weighing on his mind. He'd figured Natalie wasn't okay, but he assumed that Ava was, especially after she had contacted him. Why would the sergeant believe any different? Of course it was likely that he knew things Connor wasn't privy to, but if she wasn't okay then how would she have been able to contact anyone so easily?

He'd become even more concerned when Goodwin had mentioned that Burgess was no longer looking into Natalie's case, that Voight had sent her out on an urgent assignment, and that he himself would be their point of call when it came to the missing doctor. He couldn't help but wonder if that was connected to the message he had been asked to pass on last night, or whatever it was that "the offender" supposedly said.

"Connor." He looked up at the sound of Maggies voice. "Your patient in three?"

"What about him?"

"_Her _results are back."

He glanced at the tablet she was holding out to him, taking it and glancing over the information on the screen. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, and a part of him resented that he had been asked to cover more in the ED when he wasn't in surgery, but with Natalie gone and Will still out, he had to do his bit, even if he wasn't on top form himself.

"Anemia."

"Want me to handle it?"

Connor nodded. Usually it wasn't a choice he'd make, but today was far from a normal day. "I'm gonna take a break."

"I think that's a good idea."

He moved across the ED, entering the empty doctors lounge and sitting, throwing his head back as he did so. He wanted nothing more than to leave. To go home, sleep, and forget everything that was going on, but he was covering one of Ava's surgeries that afternoon, and following that he had one of his own. Leaving wasn't an option, he needed to find a way to focus. A way to get through this day with the patients alive and the stresses ignored.

He couldn't help but glance between the two lockers that had gone several days without being opened by their occupiers. Natalie's had been searched in the hours after she had been taken, but had been left untouched since. Ava's, however, had stood abandoned since she had left work and never returned. It hadn't even been searched when Kim had been directly told she was also missing. That, he decided, was also a suggestion that the detective knew more than she was letting on. There had been a distinct lack of concern coming from all of the investigators when it came to Ava's absence.

He stood, deciding to try his luck. Ava had never given him the combination, she'd always been much too secretive for that, but he'd seen her use it so many times it was almost etched in his memory. He just had to hope she hadn't changed it, and when it opened he knew he was in luck, she hadn't.

There was nothing on the inside of the door, something he'd always thought was strange – even he had had family photos there, of his mother and sister, a couple of cousins. At one point he'd even had a picture of Ava herself there (a picture that she hadn't exactly made it easy to get), she'd teased him about it, made a joke about him forgetting what she looked like and needing a reminder.

He'd never thought to ask her why she had no pictures. It had always just seemed to fit with her, but now that he thought about it, he realised that there had been no pictures on display in her apartment either, just an assortment of artwork that seemed to have very little meaning to her. The only real personal touch to the place that he could recall was a child's drawing, and a couple of magnets on the fridge – letters that didn't really spell anything, when he'd asked her about those she'd muttered something about an old patient giving her the pictures, the magnets being there when she moved in, and been quick to change the subject.

The contents of her locker also seemed pretty minimal. Clothes, a stethoscope, nothing that would seem out of the ordinary for any doctor to have. A towel was neatly folded at the bottom of the locker, he'd noticed it before, but for the first time he realised it was sitting on top of something, and when he moved it, he picked up the small box that had been hidden beneath it.

He hadn't been sure what he was expecting to find when he opened it, but the silver locket he pulled out surprised him. He'd never seen her wear it, she'd never even mentioned it before. He placed it on top of the towel for a second, picking up an old cassette tape that had been placed below it, the word "mom" scrawled on the label. Below that was an old photo, a woman and five children. He turned it over, frowning as he saw "Christmas 99" written on the back in unfamiliar handwriting.

He placed it back in the box, putting the tape on top of it again before turning back to the locket, examining it in his hand for a moment. The inscription "Congrats MD" making him smile. He'd asked her if her family had given her a gift when she'd finished medical school. She'd shrugged. Now he knew. He just didn't know why she had been so secretive about it. It's not as if it would have helped him figure anything out.

He returned everything, careful to leave the locker as it had been. If she never came back, he could always try and get Hailey to take the stuff, assuming she and Ava maintained contact, and something told him that they would.

He moved away, sitting again. A part of him felt guilty for not respecting her privacy, especially because he hadn't really learned anything from it, but in a strange way he also felt like he had learned something about her, realised that she wasn't as cold as she had seemed, that there were people out there that meant something to her.


	9. Chapter 9

It wasn't until the car had pulled away that Ava had started to doubt whether or not she had been right to get in it. Sure, it had been confirmed that she was being picked up, but would police really break down the door? Had she left with the wrong people and thrown herself into more danger than she had been in in a long time? Her anxiety didn't subside until she the car had stopped, and she noted the precinct they had stopped at. She'd been rushed from the car and into the building so fast that she hadn't even had time to register her surroundings, but it didn't bother her. It didn't look like she'd ever get the opportunity to see much of the town anyway.

She was set up in an empty office, the blinds closed as soon as she entered the room, an officer sitting across from her, watching her silently. No one gave her any insight as to what was going on, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. The way she had been taken, without warning in the middle of the night, was enough to convey the seriousness of the situation. A part of her hoped that was a good sign, that maybe after all these years they were finally closing in and she'd soon be free.

"How long do I have to stay here?"

The woman didn't respond, and her expression gave nothing away, leaving it unclear as to if she even had an answer to the question. She seemed on edge, unnerving Ava. If the barely involved patrol officer was worried, should she be?

"Can I call anyone?"

"No."

"So you can speak." She tried to make light of the situation. "Can you tell me anything?"

"No."

"Can anyone else tell me anything?"

"Later."

"Can you tell me when?"

"Couple of hours."

"Why the wait?"

"They're not here yet."

"Who's not here?"

"I don't know."

"Can you ask?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"They won't tell us anything."

"The FBI?"

"Our job was to pick you up and hold you in protective custody. That's all we were told."

Ava frowned. It was almost like this woman resented her being there. It was a possibility, she knew that, after years of knowing Hailey she'd come to learn how territorial cops could be. Local police wouldn't have been told she was there and who she was unless it was absolutely necessary. Maybe she saw this as the FBI interfering, bringing trouble to their door.

"Am I good to try and sleep?"

She knew she was unlikely to be able to, but there didn't seem to be much point in trying to continue a conversation with the reluctant officer, so she was somewhat relieved when the other woman nodded, before insisting that she would have to remain in that room before openly the door a fraction to request blankets before closing it and returning to where she had been sitting.

Minutes passed before the door opened again, and the officer Ava recognised as the man that had seemed to be in charge at the house entered, blankets in hand, passing them to her with a forced smile. "It won't be long, they're in the air as we speak."

**-Ghosts-**

"We don't have time."

Hailey was pacing, and Jay knew better than to try and step in when she needed to vent. If she tried to leave the apartment he'd be there to stop her, to make sure their cover wasn't blown and her safety was ensured, but as long as she was only pacing, and her words could only be heard by himself and whoever was currently sitting in the van out on the street, the best thing to do was to let her vent, let her get it out, he could reassure her when she was a little calmer.

"How does he keep figuring out where they are? They'd only just been moved and now they're _all _compromised. Who's giving him his intel? There has to be a leak somewhere, and I don't have time to find out who. I can't keep stalling forever, he wants me to kill them and when they don't start showing up dead..." She trailed off, her steps pausing, and he instinctively stood, watching her warily. She slowly turned to face him. "I can't lose her, Jay."

"You won't." His tone was soft as he stepped towards her, pulling her into a hug. "You heard what Voight said, they've got confirmation that every witness in the case has been taken into protective custody. She's safe."

"For how long?"

"Until we take this guy and his whole organisation down." He released her, pausing until she had stepped back to look at him. "And the leak has to be with the marshals. Stevens has had every agent involved in this case looked into by other units and they've all been cleared, and if the leak was in the FBI, we'd be compromised too."

"Narrowing it down doesn't stop him from getting the locations."

"The marshals not having any of the correct locations does." He reminded her of what Voight had ran by them earlier – protective custody. Safe houses. No involvement from any of the marshals, and if he had anything to do with it, limited involvement of the FBI. "We wait, we get confirmation that everyone that needs to be in a safe house is, and then you call Dalton, lay into him about the false info. Tell him that you can't kill ghosts."

"That he's wasting my time." Hailey nodded. "We still need to figure out how to get him out of that house."

"We'll figure it out." He understood her being so invested in the case, it had spanned most of her career, she'd been given orders to maintain contact with one of the witnesses, that had allowed her to bond with the other woman. Ava wasn't just a witness to Hailey, she was family, and that fact meant that this time round, the stakes were even higher for his partner.

"We're finalising a plan."

It was Voight's voice, and neither of them had been expecting it. They had been told that Atwater had been told to go and get some much needed rest, but neither of them had expected their boss to take his place, they'd assumed it would be another agent, or even Kim. Sure, they'd heard his voice earlier, but neither of them had believed he would be staying.

"What plan?"

"You'll know when it's finalised." Their boss answered. "You both need to sleep."

It wasn't a suggestion, they both knew that, so they both moved to follow their nightly routine of checking the doors and windows and checking the drugs they had been loaned for the operation were still secure and accounted for before turning off their comms, confirming their radios were in working order so that they could still be reached in the night.

They were both grateful for the nights, when their comms were off and for a few hours, it was just the two of them, especially after the relentless teasing they'd got from Atwater that first night when he'd realised they'd be sharing a bed. It wasn't something they'd discussed, it had never registered as a big deal to them, but their friend had found it hilarious, and despite the presence of the agents, he'd made sure they knew as much.

He was worried about her, he had to be. She was emotionally involved in this case, that could be dangerous for her. For them both. They couldn't afford to make any mistakes and if she couldn't put her personal feelings aside as she always had, things could go very wrong. They didn't need a repeat of Booth. She couldn't lose it again.

"It'll work out, Hailey." He was talking about more than the case and the witnesses. "You know that?"

She watched him for a second, before responding with a small nod. "It just feels like the life I've built for myself is falling apart. With the threats to the unit, what the Kelton murder could mean for us, and now Ava."

"Kelton's not here to disband the unit any more." As much as he wished the circumstances were different, he was somewhat glad he could give her that reassurance. It wasn't a sure thing now.

"That doesn't mean it won't happen."

"We just need to prove our worth." He smiled. "And we do that. We're doing that right now."

She nodded again. "Yeah. I just hope it's enough."

He watched her for a moment, running a brush through her hair, "I meant it, you know. I go where you go."

**-Ghosts-**

Sharon Goodwin watched the detective, eyes narrowed, as the man repeated his question. "You're sure you don't recognise any of them?"

"I'm sure." She repeated. "They're not staff. I can't ID all the visitors. I can't even tell you if they used their real names to sign in."

"One of these three is probably our killer."

"I agree, but that doesn't give me the ability to ID them." She sighed, wondering how long he planned on going round in this circle. "Have you tried facial recognition?"

"Not on the system."

"Have you figured out which patient they were visiting?"

"This one," He gestured to one of the images, "spent a couple of minutes with an elderly patient, a Mrs. Harlin." He moved to the other two. "These two didn't visit any patients. It's possible they were watching one of the doctors, but we can't confirm that. We were hoping an ID would make it clearer."

"Could you not ask the doctor in question if they recognise either of them?"

"At this point in time, no. We've been unable to locate her."

Goodwin frowned, assuming she already knew the answer to what she was about to ask. "Manning or Bekker?"

"Bekker."

She moved instinctively, picking up the phone and dialling Voight's office, not surprised when he didn't answer. It was late, normally she would have left herself, but things had been so chaotic recently that she'd started to feel like she needed to be there all the time. The late nights and early mornings were taking their toll on her.

She tried his personal number, almost giving up when he finally answered the call, only to let her know he couldn't come down, but he would send someone in his place.

**-Ghosts-**

"You must be Burgess."

Kim shook the hand that was held out to her, confirming the man's statement. "My witness?"

He smiled, gesturing for her to follow. The agent accompanying her following close behind, she followed him down the narrow hallway, towards a room at the end of it, the door firmly shut, blinds down, ensuring there was no way anyone could see into the room. He knocked quickly before opening the door without waiting for a response, gesturing for them to step in behind him.

Kim was quick to note the demeanour of the officer that had been in the room, the frown on her face giving away what seemed to be resentment, the complete opposite of the man that had greeted her when she had arrived, who had seemed inappropriately cheery in the circumstances.

She looked over to Ava, asleep on the ground, restless and clearly uncomfortable. "How long has she been asleep?"

The woman shrugged. "Couple of hours."

Kim nodded. "We need you to clear the room."

She waited until the two officers had stepped outside the room, leaving the agent and herself alone with Ava, before she approached her, gently shaking her awake.

The blonde squinted, momentarily confused, before slowly moving into a sitting position, taking in the two people in the room. "Burgess?"

"Long night?"

Ava nodded. "What's going on?"

"We have reason to believe you may have been compromised again, so we're moving you as a precaution." She opted not to confirm that there was a leak, that was a fear the doctor didn't need right now. "The best place for you right now is protective custody. At least until we can figure out something better."

"My brother?"

"He's improving." Kim had known she would ask, so had been sure to get an update before she left. "He's got a long road ahead of him, but they're optimistic."

Ava let out a sight of relief. "My sisters?"

"Both safe."

A nod. "Hailey?"

"She's okay." Kim confirmed. "Helping us get to Dalton as we speak."

Ava bit her lip, a look of concern in her eyes. "She's back under."

Kim nodded in confirmation. "She's fine. Jay's with her, and we're hoping it won't be for too much longer."

"When do you think you'll get him?"

"We have a plan in place." The agent finally spoke, and Kim was slightly put off by his comment. He'd said nothing the entire flight. "We need an incentive to get him to leave that house, that's where you come in."

Ava's brow furrowed. "Me?"

Kim resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She'd intended to bring that up in a better way. "Dalton's asked Jess Hanshaw to put a bullet in all the witnesses. That buys us some time, but the longer it goes with no results, the more he's going to question her. We need something that will get him out of that building, there's too many unknown variables in there, to do that, we need to have something that he wants." She paused. "It doesn't have to be you. There are other witnesses..."

"What would I need to do?"

"Just be at Hailey's UC apartment." Kim elaborated. "She calls him, he hears you're there. Hopefully it'll be enough to get him to go over there. As soon as it's confirmed he's on his way, we move you to another unit in the building, and once he's inside, we arrest him. No bystanders put at risk, a situation that we can control." She noted Ava's apprehension. "You won't even have to see him."

"What about Natalie?"

"We know where she's being held. I'm afraid I can't say more than that right now."

"She's hurt."

"She's alive, and she hasn't been harmed." Kim paused glancing to the agent and then back. "He needs her alive right now, she's leverage. He won't hurt her."

"Unless he feels cornered."

"It shouldn't get to that point. As long as he doesn't see us coming."

**-Ghosts-**

"So, your friend Ava, you ever met her family?"

Natalie frowned staring out the back window of the property. "She's never mentioned them to me."

"Not surprised." He smirked. "And she's what? South African?"

"Yes."

"That's clever, I'll give them that. I'd never have thought to look for a South African."

"What do you want her for?"

"An ongoing disagreement we have." He laughed. "I plan on ending it." A pause. "Well, getting Jessie to end it."

Jessie. The moment Natalie had seen Hailey and Jay there she had assumed they were undercover. That had been confirmed to her when she had been told their names were Jess and Ryan. She'd done what she knew she had to and pretended not to know them, but for a moment she had allowed herself to hope that they'd take her with them when they left. Not that they ever could have without compromising themselves.

"You see," He continued. "Your friend Ava needs to learn when to shut up." A pause. "And her uncle needs to learn that there are consequences to unpaid debts."

"Did you hear from Goodwin?"

"I shouldn't." He let out a laugh, a rough sound that made Natalie flinch every time she heard it. "I wanted someone that will push the FBI to negotiate. From what you said, she'll do that."

"Negotiate?"

"You for her."

"They'll never give you that."

"Then I guess we'll be spending a lot more time together."

"You can't seriously believe they would ever just hand her over."

"Of course not." He smirked. "That's why I've got Jessie on the case."

"And what happens to me when you don't get what you want?"

"That depends on you." He shrugged, throwing his feet up onto the coffee table. "I might decide to keep you around. If not... Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Natalie held her nerve, determined not to react to the threat. The man seemed to thrive on reaction, and she knew what he didn't – the police knew where she was. She just needed to play along until Jay and Hailey managed to get her out. She couldn't help but think that that would be a whole lot easier if she knew what they were planning.

She moved a hand up, rubbing her temple. When she'd been grabbed she'd dropped her bag. The painkillers she'd been prescribed had been in it. The headaches were repetitive and intense. Nothing out of the ordinary considering her injuries, but bad enough to make it clear just how necessary the prescription was.

Dalton laughed at the action. "I'd ask you again when the last time you saw our mutual friend was, but I guess you still don't remember."

Something about her injury and memory loss was funny to him, and although it seemed kind of standard for someone like him, it irked her. She wondered if he'd still find it funny if he knew she was exaggerating it, that she was using her memory loss to claim she didn't remember things that she did. She had no intention of telling him anything about Ava if she could avoid it.

**-Ghosts-**

Agent Stevens strolled briskly out of the hospital, violently pulling out her phone and placing the call. Stopping outside the door and glancing down to the images in her hand as she impatiently waited for an answer.

"Hello?"

"I need you to get onto the marshals."

"Now? I thought they didn't know where any of our witnesses are anymore."

"They don't. I want you to ask them a question."

"Okay?"

"I want you to ask them what the hell Chloe Downes was doing at her sister's place of work."


	10. Chapter 10

"No."

Jay watched as Hailey began pacing, unsurprised by her reaction to the plan. It may provide their best chance at catching Dalton, but he wasn't at all surprised that the risk, as far as his partner was concerned, was way too high.

"She's already on route back to the city with Kim."

"Then tell them to turn around."

"Hailey..."

"She's not doing this."

"She's already agreed." He sighed. "She'll never be in the firing line. He won't even see her."

"Unless something goes wrong." Hailey shot back. "He won't go for this. He won't agree to come here, and if I've told him I have her and don't agree to take her to him... I may as well tell him I'm a cop. It'll be over."

"Just tell him you don't have a way of getting her to him without her being seen."

"He won't care. He'd rather the risk be with me than with him."

"This is happening, Hailey." Voight insisted. "You'll get him to come."

"You know what happened last time?"

"Yes, this is still our best option."

"Hails," Jay interrupted, somewhat relieved that the communication was taking place over comms and not in person. Voight not being able to see how agitated Hailey was getting could only be a good thing. If he saw this, there was a good chance he'd insist on her being pulled out. If that happened, she was more likely to go rogue than step back unless resources were put towards keeping her away. "If she's willing, we should let it play out."

Hailey turned to him, letting out a sigh and nodding slowly. "When will she be here?"

"Plane should land within the hour. She'll be briefed at the precinct. Then Adam will bring her to you."

"Adam?"

"Reinstated last night." They assumed he had just forgotten to mention it to them. "When you see him he's Mike. He works for you. Low level."

"Where will everyone else be?"

"Burgess and Atwater in the apartment across from you. I'll be with Stevens, keeping the back exit secure. The FBI will be spread around the building. Building maintenance, pizza delivery, whatever they come up with!" He paused, and for a moment seemed to be checking something with the agents in the van. "She'll be brought to you tonight, tomorrow you call him."

Hailey let out a sigh. Somewhat surprised she was being given any time with her before everything went down. She couldn't say she wasn't grateful for it, at least she'd be able to check in with her before anything happened. Confirm that she really was okay with it all.

"What's plan B? For when he doesn't show."

"He'll show." Voight was confident. "With how much he's been putting into getting this family, he'll show."

"He better." Hailey determined. "If he doesn't, it's done. She doesn't go to meet him anywhere else."

"She won't need to." He commented. "I want both of you ready. Guns loaded. If you have to take a shot, take a shot. Ideally we'll take him alive but if that can't happen, then take him out."

Take him out. That was the most sense Hailey had heard all day.

**-Ghosts-**

Goodwin frowned, glancing at the screens in front of her. Six different dates between February 6th and May 15th. The same girl, and every time she was there, all she ever did was watch Ava. Never approached, never spoke to anyone, just watched, then left.

The agent had called that morning with the extra dates, and if her reaction the previous evening hadn't given it away already, the woman's ability to specify had made it clear that she knew who the woman on the CCTV was, and she hadn't seemed at all happy that this person had been there.

The door opened, but she didn't immediately look up, continuing to observe the frozen images on the screen, as if the answers would jump out at her if she continued to look.

"Dr. Charles said you were down here."

She turned briefly to nod to Connor before looking. back to the screens.

"What's this?"

She gestured towards the first screen. "February 6th." Then, moving her hand to indicate the others, she listed the further dates. "February 27th, March 28th , April 11th, April 30th." She sighed as she got to the last one. "May 15th."

"The day my dad was murdered."

"She's been here on six occasions and every single time she just watched Dr. Bekker from a distance." She turned to him. "The two of you were close, do you know this woman?"

He looked towards the screen, his brow furrowing. "I'm not sure."

"How so?"

"She looks a little bit like Ava." He hesitated, noting her expression. "Not exactly like her, but the eyes."

Goodwin looked back to the screens, focusing on the eyes of the subject on them. "You know what, I think you're right. Same eyes. A relation?"

"Maybe a sister." He volunteered, only realising his mistake when he met Goodwin's questioning gaze. "Ava has this picture in her locker. It's old. A woman and five kids. Assuming one of those kids was Ava, she has two sisters."

"You went through her locker." The statement was somewhat judgemental, but he knew he deserved that. "You could have been contaminating evidence. As far as we're concerned, she's missing."

"She's fine." Connor sighed. "Or at least she was. She called me. Yesterday."

"Why did she call you?"

"Because she couldn't get hold of Hailey."

"You can't seriously be bitter about being her second choice after the way you were treating her." She couldn't help but comment on his tone. It was uncalled for, if nothing else.

"I had good reason." He claimed. He gestured to the screens. "If that's her sister and _she _killed my dad, I still do."

"The issue with that, Dr. Rhodes." Goodwin couldn't help but shake her head. "Is that Dr. Bekker shows no indication in any of the tapes that she was aware this woman was there. There was no conversation, not even a glance in her direction. If anything, it seems this woman was hiding whenever it seemed that Dr. Bekker may notice her."

"Why would she do that?" Connor queried. "If it's her sister?"

"If they're in witness protection, as I really am starting to believe," Goodwin reminded him of her theory. "They may not be allowed contact with each other."

He considered it. "I guess it makes sense. The whole disappearing without warning but the police seeming to know, her neighbour saying 'the feds' cleaned out her place. Upton suddenly being 'out on assignment.'"

"Someone taking Dr. Manning in an attempt to get to her."

"That's confirmed?"

"Yesterday morning. A note was delivered to me by hand, telling me to let 'the feds' know they want to trade. It came with pictures. Pictures of the two of them."

"This is crazy."

"I agree." Goodwin nodded. "Crazy isn't impossible, though."

Connor frowned, looking back to the screens as a thought occurred to him. "What date was it that this woman first showed up?"

"February 6th." Goodwin repeated. "Unless the FBI have more dates I haven't been made aware of. Why?"

"February 6th is the same day Ava got cut in the OR. The HIV positive patient." He focused on that first screen. "Was she there before or after that?"

"That surgery was in the afternoon, she was spotted around noon, so before."

"She got a call that morning."

"I'm not sure how this is significant."

"We had just had a, um, disagreement." He started. "Then she got a call. I didn't hear much, but when I next saw her she was a little different. Almost..." A hesitation. "Distracted."

"Okay."

"If she and this woman are related, and they're in witness protection. Would they tell one if they can't find the other?"

"I'm not sure." Goodwin admitted. "Maybe if they had reason to believe that one may be seeking the other out."

"I thought she did it on purpose."

"What?"

"Cut herself. I accused her of trying to get back at me."

"By sacrificing her health?"

"I figured there was something wrong with her, that she needed help."

"It seems she did need help." Goodwin agreed. "But not from a doctor. From friends." She moved to turn the screens of, checking the live feeds on the far wall before turning back to him. "Good news for you, though. The FBI have taken your father's case."

**-Ghosts-**

Agent Stevens once again looked over the lists of phone numbers, frowning when, once again, nothing obvious jumped out of her. None of Ava's calls in the past two years had been of any concern. The numbers that had been called more than once could all be accounted for – hospital staff, a few firefighters, a paramedic or two. A local Chinese restaurant. The only numbers that were called on at least a weekly basis belonged to the two people she had found Ava had been closest to during her time in the city, the third a colleague that she personally had cleared and made aware of the doctor's situation a while back. Incoming calls showed the same information, the same people. There was nothing there that there shouldn't be.

She looked up at the agent sitting at the desk opposite her. "Found anything in Chloe's records?"

"No contact with either of her sisters. Nothing from the brother or uncle either. Regular calls to the same friends and business. I've looked into a few of the friends. One of them works in Chicago but that's the closest she seems to have got to her sister."

"Where does she work?"

"She was a PA." He elaborated. "Looked like she lost her job when her boss died."

"When?"

The man turned back to his computer, looking back up after a few clicks. "Couple of weeks ago. Boss died May 15th, and she was terminated a couple of days after."

"Cornelius Rhodes?"

Another glance towards the screen. "Yes."

"That's the connection." Stevens nodded, more to herself than anyone else. "His son works at the hospital."

"It's weak."

"It's all we have." She turned back to her screen, "Chloe Downes is being brought in for questioning tomorrow. Hopefully then we'll get some answers."

"When I spoke to the marshals, I did question why the two of them were so close to each other. They should never have been in the same state."

"It was a matter of debate. One gets a job offer a little bit too close to where another is. We discussed it, and it was decided that the distance was just far enough that they wouldn't bump into each other at the grocery store, so the move was fine. Upton had maintained contact, she'd be in the area to report back if needed."

The younger agent was new on the case, and it seemed to be almost a daily occurrence that he proved to her that he hadn't fully read the case file he had been handed months ago. "So they weren't both placed here?"

"No, one was placed, one moved, with permission, a couple of years ago."

"Where was she before."

"Cape Town." Stevens frowned. "This is all in the files. She went to medical school. We knew she'd likely be returning sometime after she finished, it was just a coincidence that she was employed here when she decided to return."

"Isn't it rare for witnesses to be sent out of the country?"

"She requested it. I got the impression she was running from something." She glanced towards her watch. "It's late. The witness is in place. Tomorrow is a big day. We should get a couple of hours sleep."

**-Ghosts-**

Natalie wandered slowly through the house. At first she'd been surprised that they so regularly left her alone, but it hadn't taken her long to realise that with every door locked, and cameras above every exit, there wasn't exactly much she could do. They'd know if she tried to escape.

Today was different, though. There seemed to be next to no one in the house. She's been watching as Dalton left some minutes ago. A number of others leaving with him. Something was happening. The house was never this empty, there was never that many people leaving together, and Dalton himself hadn't left at all during the days she had been there.

And the look on his face.

He'd seemed almost... excited.

There were a few still there, she'd heard them in one of the back rooms. It sounded like they were playing poker. None of them had seemed even the slightest bit interested in what she was doing. If she wasn't being held against her will, it was the sort of place she wouldn't mind being. Owen would love pushing is toy cars down the long hallways and running around the yard.

She looked to the back window, the morning light streaming in. She'd only been out there once, and she'd been supervised. It was a big space, well cared for. The sort of yard that wouldn't be out of place if it belonged to a stately home. In stark contrast to the modern feel of the house.

She turned sharply as she spotted movement, her eyes widening at the sight. The man stared back at her, holding a finger to his lips, and she took the opportunity to point to the camera that she knew was above the back door. He nodded, so she moved her finger, gesturing to the floor above her, a room to her right. As soon as she was sure he had noticed, she moved her hand again, holding up four fingers. He smiled, glancing at the floor above.

She didn't know for sure that there were only four remaining in the house with her, but in the days she had been there she had noted every new face, and if her observations throughout the day were correct, all but four of those she knew of had left the property throughout that day and were yet to return.

This was it.

It was time to go.

**-Ghosts-**

Ava frowned, focused on Hailey's worried expression. "They said he left, right?"

"Yes." Hailey confirmed. "Something's wrong though, I can feel it. They should have moved you already."

Jay said nothing. He'd stepped out for a while after they had received confirmation that Dalton had indeed left his property and was heading to them. He was curious as to why Ava hadn't been immediately moved to another apartment on another floor. He'd knocked on the door of the apartment opposite, stepping in when Atwater had opened it, only to be told that there was a problem. They couldn't clear everyone in the building. An apartment on the floor below them had been rented out in the past few days. The names were fake. It looked like Dalton had had someone move into the building.

It wasn't something completely unexpected, but it had made him grateful that no one other than he and Hailey had come to the apartment. Any visitor would have been scrutinised. It was an annoyance though, and one that could completely throw Hailey. It was too late to call things off now, and they couldn't risk moving Ava if any of Dalton's men were in the building to potentially tip him off. She had to stay put.

"Everything will be fine." Jay reasoned. "The building is surrounded. You're wearing a vest."

"Then why haven't they moved her?"

"Maybe they're trying to find the best place for her to go."

"They would have done that before the plan was even finalised." Hailey brushed off. "Something's gone wrong."

"Best thing we can do is sit tight." Jay pointed out. "Even if something has gone wrong, we can't take her out there not knowing what we're facing."

Ava watched as they spoke, opting not to interrupt. Hearing Dalton's voice after all these years had got to her, and as much as she tried not to let it show, she knew Hailey could see right through her. The detective had, in turn, tried to keep the conversation brief, but the man had taken some convincing. It had taken her almost an hour before he agreed, and only after she had questioned whether or not she would even be able to get to his place – she was wanted on a few drugs charges after all, and the cops in that area of town hated her.

The doctor had been visibly shaking by the time the phone call ended, and her friend had pulled her into a hug within seconds, reassuring her that against all the odds, things seemed to be going to plan. That had changed when they had been given confirmation of Dalton's departure and Ava wasn't moved. It was kind of funny, in a way. Ava calmed down and Hailey freaked out.

"That was a car." Hailey moved from her place on the couch over to the window. She frowned, turning back to the room. "Not him."

"Still no sign."

The agent's comment hadn't given the reassurance he had probably intended it to. He had to be somewhere. It wasn't a good sign that he had seemingly vanished on his way there. Jay couldn't help but question if he may be onto them, but he knew better than to suggest that in front of the others in the room. If he didn't show up soon, he knew the FBI would likely call it, at which point he'd tell Hailey everything as they swept the building, potentially blowing their cover when they did so.

"Wait, this might be him."

Hailey turned back to the window, spying the SUVs pulling into the building's lot. "Has to be. No one else would come to this part of town and draw that much attention to themselves."

She watched as the man himself stepped out of one of the cars, hoping that someone would opt to take him out right there. It didn't happen, and she glanced anxiously towards her friend before turning to her partner. "She needs to be moved. Now."

"It's too late." He tried. "He's in the building, we could run into him."

"She can't stay here, he's heading here. Could she go across the hall with Kim and Kevin?"

"Is there time?"

"I'm not sure. He took the stairs instead of the elevator."

"Does anyone have eyes on him?"

A pause came in the communication, before the answer Hailey had been dreading came through. "No."

"We have to move her."

She moved across the space, opening the door a fraction and looking out into the deserted hallway. She stepped out, intending to take the few steps required to get to the apartment that her colleagues were currently occupying, but froze at the sound of another door opening. She looked towards the sound, coming face to face with Rick Dalton.

"Sorry I'm a little late, Jessie."

He had a smirk on his face, a familiar expression that had always made it difficult for her to refrain from punching him.

"What took you so long?"

"Made a stop on the way." He was grinning. "Wanted to make sure I had enough bullets."

Hailey forced a laugh. "I always forget how bad a shot you are."

"Never really got the hang of it." He'd never been bothered by it, despite how many times she had brought it up all those years ago. "Wouldn't want to miss this time." He paused, glancing behind her. "Is your lapdog with the guest of honour?"

"Change of plans." Hailey shrugged, sticking to the agreed plan, even if the setting was different. "Ry and I want to be paid before we hand her over." She placed her hands on her hips. "It is a risk, after all. We might need to leave town for a while."

"All in good time." He stepped forward, moving towards her and forcibly linking their arms. "She's in here?"

He didn't wait for a response, moving them both towards the open door. She knew if Jay had shut it, leaving her out there, it would have made Dalton suspicious, but for a brief moment she found herself angry that he hadn't, but as they turned the corner and she met the defiant eyes of her friend, who had clearly heard the man's voice, the anger faded.

Dalton let out another laugh. "Isn't this a wonderful reunion. How's the leg?"

"Go to hell."

"You were the polite one." He let out an exaggerated sigh. "It's very good to see you again, Madison. I've been looking for you for a long time."

She watched as he raised his gun, the familiar sound of gunfire starting almost simultaneously with his action. Then she felt it.


	11. Chapter 11

_Madison took a deep breath, watching the approach cautiously, suddenly doubting her willingness to come. She couldn't exactly call it a choice. Ella had outright refused and it had had to be one of them. No one showing up wasn't an option._

_She knew she was in over her head, no amount of preparation would have ever been enough, and for a moment she understood her sister's anger at their uncle for unknowingly putting them in this situation. For putting Chloe in this situation._

_She'd met Rick Dalton a number of times before. He'd been a friend of her uncle's since before they went to live with him. This man had watched them grow up, joined them for meals, even picked them up from school on occasion. That was why John had trusted him when he'd agreed to take the loan. He'd believed his friend viewed them as family. He'd had to learn the hard way._

_When the faces of the approaching group became distinguishable, she let out a sharp gasp, taking in her sister's appearance. She was thinner, her hair greasy and eyes bloodshot. Madison found herself momentarily lost for words, making eye contact with her sister and finding an unnerving vacant stare to be the only response._

"_You got my money?"_

_She dragged her eyes away from her sister, reminding herself of why she was there, and facing the man she had once thought of as family. The step forward was almost automatic, like she herself was no longer controlling her movement, but when her eyes caught sight of movement behind Rick, behind her sister and the woman holding onto her, her heart started racing even faster than it already had been._

_She hadn't been prepared for the gunfire, but when it started her eyes darted to where her sister had been, just in time to see her being dragged away, and with her mind working overtime it took her seconds too long to remember what she had been told to do if it came to this._

_Slamming herself into the steel door of the warehouse, she fell in, pushing it closed behind her and sitting up against it, knowing she was to stay there until a code word was used, indicating it was clear for her to open the door._

_It took her a minute to feel the pain, to notice the blood staining her jeans. To realise that while her sister was being taken from her yet again, she had been hit._

**-Ghosts-**

Connor Rhodes watched, exhausted, as his patient was wheeled out of the hybrid OR. It had been touch and go all afternoon, with multiple codes while he was operating. Still, he'd made it through, and the surgeon was allowing himself to be optimistic about the man's chances.

He glanced around the ED, frowning at the massive police presence. He knew something had happened that day, after all, his patient had had multiple gun shot wounds, but he hadn't known it would warrant such a big response. He sidestepped an unfamiliar officer, heading over to the woman that had been with his patient when he had arrived.

"He coded three times on the table, but we got him back and right now he's stable. I'm hopeful that he'll make a full recovery."

"He better." He noted she was glancing over his shoulder, and followed her gaze, watching as his patient was cuffed to the bed as he was moved to recovery. "No one deserves to face justice more than him."

He frowned. No one had mentioned to him that the patient was the instigator of whatever had happened earlier that day, and this woman seemed way too invested in this going to trial for a random shootout. He knew better than to ask, he knew he wouldn't get many answers.

Moving past her, he was heading towards Maggie, who seemed deep in conversation with two other nurses as he approached.

"...want to kill her?"

"I don't know any more than you do, ladies."

He couldn't help but smile at the comment. Maggie never did like gossip unless she was the one instigating it. The nurses looked to him as he approached, their eyes widening as they quickly made excuses to leave.

"What was that about?" He noted the concern on Maggie's face as she watched him. "Maggie?"

"She's out of surgery." Maggie began, and he realised her concern seemed to be his behaviour, rather than whatever the nurses had been talking about. "Dr. Evanson said she was lucky, she's been moved to recovery."

"Who?"

"You don't know?" Maggie queried. "She was brought in hours ago."

"I've been in the hybrid OR all afternoon. Critical patient."

"Still," Maggie frowned. "I thought someone would have told you."

"Told me what?"

"Ava..." She trailed off, watching as his expression changed. "She was shot this afternoon."

"Shot?" He repeated the word, confusion in his tone, then in an instant, he changed. "Where is she?"

"Fourth floor, recovery." He took off running towards the elevators before she could say any more, leaving her calling after him. She sighed, lowering her voice. "You probably won't be allowed in."

Connor was tapping his foot restlessly on the elevator floor, waiting for it to stop, a million questions in his head. Why wasn't he called when she was brought in? Had she been in the city the whole time? Who had shot her? Why?

He was running again as soon as the doors were open, sprinting through the doors and glancing around anxiously. It wasn't until he spotted Goodwin, standing against the nurses station and looking into one of the rooms, that he realised where she must be.

He headed towards her, noticing for the first time a furious Hailey Upton staring daggers at a man whom was inexplicably standing guard at the door to the room. Jay was leaning against the wall just inside the door, quietly observing his partner. His eyes fell to Ava, unconscious, even paler than usual, her hair splayed out on the pillow, and her arm in a sling.

"What happened?"

Goodwin glanced up at him before turning back to the room. "They haven't said much." She gestured to the man at the door. "He's FBI. Upton won't leave her." Goodwin paused. "And Voight said her uncle is on his way."

"Will she be okay?"

"Dr. Evanson says so. No lasting damage."

"Her arm?"

"Shoulder." Goodwin elaborated. "Restricting movement is necessary." She glanced back into the room. "She took one to the chest, too, if she hadn't been wearing a vest she'd likely have never made it here. As it is, she's got some serious bruising, but she'll live."

"You think I'd be able to go in?"

"Give Upton some time." Goodwin advised. "She's barely letting her own partner in there."

He nodded. "Wait... Uncle?"

"Yes. Voight informed me that her uncle had been told and was on his way."

"Since when did Ava have an uncle?"

"Ava doesn't." Goodwin stated, turning her tablet so that he could see the screen. "Madison does."

"Madison?" He took in the information on the screen. The different name, the altered date of birth making her a little over a month younger than he had been told she was, and as he scrolled, a far more comprehensive medical history than he had known Ava to have. He turned away, opting not to read through it, despite his curiosity – he'd already violated her privacy once this week. "You think it's her real name?"

Goodwin nodded. "Detective Upton kept referring to her as 'Maddie' while she was in surgery." She paused, unsure as to how he would take what she considered definitive confirmation. "Dr. Charles confirmed it."

"Dr. Charles?"

"She's been seeing him regularly. He can't tell me what they discussed, but he was given clearance to confirm that Madison is her real name."

"He knew?"

"It seems so."

"How long?"

"He didn't say."

Connor didn't know what to think, or even how to feel. He knew it made sense. He'd accused her of needing help and the whole time she had been in therapy. No wonder she'd reacted the way she had. He probably would have too in her position. It was all so insane though.

"So witness protection?"

"I would say the amount of FBI agents currently in the building and the multiple identities confirm that."

He nodded, turning back to look at her. "Has she woken up yet?"

"No, but she should soon."

**-Ghosts-**

It felt like hours before Hailey left, being taken from the room by what Connor assumed were more agents, Jay following behind her. Goodwin had left him some time before, and it took him yet another hour before he took the opportunity to approach the room, holding up his hospital ID to the agent at the door, who took his time scrutinising it.

"You're not one of her doctors."

"No." He confirmed, knowing better than to lie. "I've been a big part of her life the past two years, I don't want her to be alone."

He'd been watched for a moment, before the agent pulled out his phone, dialling a number. The conversation was short, but he knew what was happening. His name was likely being ran through numerous databases. As he hung up the agent took a moment to watch him, before asking to see his ID again and carefully comparing him to the image.

"You can go in." The other man was still wary, but he'd agreed.

Connor stepped through the door, making his way to the chair by the bed, looking over Ava's vitals as he did. It wasn't until he looked at her properly that he realised he had no idea what to say, and that that was unlikely to have been different if she was awake.

Standing again, he moved to pick up her chart, reading through it and noticing the request that Dr. Charles be contacted when she woke up. That wasn't something that happened often, and he hadn't noticed it flagged on her digital records, but he knew he shouldn't really be surprised if Ava had been seeing him. The man was thorough.

"So..." He began, placing the chart down and moving back to sit beside her. "I guess I owe you an apology."

"More than one." He hadn't heard the door open or seen her approach, so Hailey's comment made him jump. "Why are you here?"

"I didn't want her to be alone."

The detective nodded. "Then you can go now."

He frowned, hesitating as she glared at him. He stayed where he was. "I..." He hesitated, surprised by the truth in his words. "I don't want to."

"You should never have been allowed in here." She took a few steps forward, but didn't demand that he leave immediately. "If she wakes up and tells you to go, you go."

He nodded. That was fair. "Am I allowed to ask what happened?"

Hailey rolled her eyes. "You don't have a right to know what happened."

"Is she in danger?"

"How did you manage to graduate Med school?"

He didn't blame her. She was angry, and probably terrified. If she needed to lash out, he was willing to let her, although he wished Jay had come back with her, he could have done with the backup.

"How long have you known her?"

Another glare.

"I know you don't like me..."

"Like you." Hailey scoffed. "You set out to destroy her. After everything she's been through you made it your mission to trash her reputation, and why? Because you're so narcissistic that you couldn't take that not everything in her life is about you? Because she dared challenge you when you were being reckless with people's lives? Because your dad assaulted her? Because..."

"He what?"

Hailey's eyes widened momentarily, and she instantly backed off, as if she realised she had said too much. "Forget it."

"No." He refused. "When did this happen?"

"It's not my story to tell."

"Then why bring it up?"

"How did you not know?!"

Connor hadn't been expecting the accusatory question, but as he started searching himself for an answer, he found he didn't have one. He knew his dad, he knew what he was like. He'd even wondered a couple of times before. Even if Ava hadn't been willing to tell him, shouldn't he have at least suspected?

"When was this?"

The detective didn't answer, her focus taken away from him by a flick of Ava's hand. She grasped it immediately. "Are you back with us?"

It took a few minutes before her eyes opened, but as they did, she gave a weak smile. "Did I get shot again?"

"Again?"

She slowly turned to Connor upon hearing his outburst, frowning, then looked back to Hailey, clearly still expecting an answer.

"Yeah." Hailey smiled. "Turns out Dalton is still a terrible shot. While Kim and Kevin are still both great shots."

"Lucky me." Ava coughed instead of laughing, but refused the offer of water. "Dalton?"

"He was alive when they took him from the scene. You don't remember that?"

Ava shook her head.

Hailey laughed. "You said he was a bastard."

"Um..." Connor decided to interrupt. "Rick Dalton?"

Hailey turned on him, fury returning to her eyes, but only nodded in response.

"He made it through surgery."

Another nod from the detective, and Connor was somewhat relieved as she turned away. That glare was a powerful thing, and he really wasn't equipped to handle it right now, he already had enough to contend with.

"How are you feeling?"

Ava turned to him again when he asked the question, giving him a small nod, but opting not to speak. He could see the confusion in her eyes, only partly masked by the pain, and knew that in different circumstances she'd probably be trying to get answers. She was exhausted though, and he knew she would be for a while. She wouldn't be asking anything yet.

Connor moved to stand, noticing one of the nurses on the floor returning from another room, moving towards he door and opening it a fraction. "Could you page Dr. Evanson and Dr. Charles? She's awake."

As a doctor, he knew how important it was that her surgeon was informed of every change, and how necessary post-surgical checks were, and Ava clearly wanted to go back to sleep. There was no harm in speeding the process up.

**-Ghosts-**

"How did this even happen? You promised me this wouldn't happen!"

Hailey looked up upon hearing the raised voice, knowing it was heading their way.

"And no one could even tell me which one of them it was for hours. This is completely unacceptable."

The door opened and the voice cut off, leaving Hailey face to face with a man she hadn't seen in years. He looked different now, his hair greying, his skin wrinkled, but the warm smile he gave when he saw the figure in the bed was still the same.

"Mads."

"Uncle John." Ava let out a yawn. "How did you..."

"Got a call from some agent this afternoon." He approached cautiously, sitting on the end of the bed. "Then that Agent Stevens called with the details. You know, I'm really not a fan of these 'Maddie got shot' calls."

Unable to laugh, Ava gave a small smile. "Sorry."

"I've missed you, kid." He turned slightly, taking in the sight of Hailey. "I'm sorry, I'm sure I know you from somewhere."

The detective smiled. "Hailey. I was the officer that..."

"That got Chlo away from Rick!" He exclaimed. "Of course you are, Officer..."

"It's detective now."

"That's great." He was genuine, and it still surprised Hailey. Knowing the trouble he had got into in the past, and the impact it had had on his family, it was easy to forget what a genuinely nice guy he was. "And who's that?"

Hailey and Ava both turned to where Connor was sleeping. While Ava was still confused by his presence, Hailey had began to believe that his insistence on staying was to spite her, solely because Ava hadn't asked him to leave like Hailey had assumed would happen when she woke up.

"He's a doctor here." It had been Hailey that answered the question, a fact that Ava was grateful for, she wasn't exactly sure how to explain it herself. The simple answer was the best option. "Like Maddie."

John's face lit up. "You finished Med school?"

Ava nodded. "It's so weird being called Maddie again."

"Hearing 'Uncle John' after all these years is weird for me, too."

"Who were you yelling at?"

"Some agent." John was quick to answer. "That doesn't matter right now." He glanced to the door before turning back. "Have they checked you over since you woke up?"

"Dr. Evanson stopped by." Hailey confirmed. "When he asked her to confirm her name she answered 'which one?', so she seems pretty good, considering. She was asleep when Dr. Charles came by, so he said he'd stop by again tonight."

John nodded. "And the sleeping guy? Why's he here?"

Ava frowned, glancing towards Connor as he was referenced. "Good question."

**-Ghosts-**

Connor couldn't help being frustrated. It had been some hours since Jay had managed to drag Hailey away, and as visiting hours had ended, the older man that he had come to learn was Ava's uncle had been encouraged to leave by nurses, and with the knowledge that he would be taken to 'Chloe', whoever that was. In the time that he and Ava had been alone, she still hadn't said a word to him.

He'd left for an hour, when Dr. Charles had showed up and Ava had requested that she speak with him privately, but as the older man had left and Connor returned, he hadn't been sent away. He'd assumed she'd talk, but she hadn't. She'd been sketching in a notepad Jay had dropped off when he'd returned for Hailey, letting him watch her, but remaining silent.

"Upton said something earlier."

Ava's hand froze, a sure sign that she had heard him, but she didn't look up.

"I think we need to talk about it."

She still didn't respond, staring at the page in front of her.

"It was that night, wasn't it?"

She turned away slightly.

"You don't want to talk about it?"

A slight shake of the head gave him his answer.

"What _do _you want to talk about?"

She finally turned to him, but still didn't answer, opting to just watch him.

"I have questions."

"Is that why you're here?"

He couldn't help but smile as she spoke, the first words she'd directed towards him since she woke up. "No, I wanted to see that you were okay."

"I'm okay."

"No you're not." She turned away from him, going back to her sketch, and he let out a sigh. "Madison."

"Don't call me that."

"It's your name." He frowned, she hadn't seemed to have an issue with anyone else using it. "Isn't it?"

She frowned, turning back to him. "It's who I used to be. Hailey and Uncle John knew Madison, you never did. I don't want you to."

"Why not?"

She took a moment before she answered. "Madison's haunted."


	12. Chapter 12

**Necessary warning. This chapter gets a little dark in terms of one of the themes. You'll likely know when you get to it.**

* * *

In the just over 24 hours since Natalie had been rescued from the house, she had been all but surrounded. When it wasn't Helen, with Owen in tow, it was a colleague or two from the hospital. She'd barely been left alone for a second, and for once she was glad. She felt safer when she had someone around. It hadn't even annoyed her when she'd been told she'd be kept overnight for observation, just to check that everything that had happened to her hadn't aggravated her head injury. Just being around the people she loved was something she'd never take for granted again.

"Discharged again." Maggie smiled at her friend. "You might want to make sure you go home this time."

Natalie shook her head, letting out a laugh. "I'll try my best."

"How'd the chat with that cop go?"

"Kind of seemed like he didn't have a clue what he was talking about." Natalie shrugged. "The guy was so out of it I'm surprised he even knew what had happened to me. I pretty much just had to run through everything that happened while I was there, which wasn't all that easy with my memory issues, then he asked if I would be willing to testify. If anything, he seemed disappointed that my time there hadn't been worse. Won't be surprised if I'm asked to lie about things at some point."

"Strange." Maggie determined, quickly changing the subject. "Is Phillip coming?"

"Helen." Natalie corrected. "Phillip dropped Owen off with her and she hasn't seen him since."

"Is she running a little late?"

"I asked her to come a little later." The doctor elaborated. "I was hoping to go and see Ava, but I couldn't find her in the system anywhere. Has she been discharged already?"

"GSW to the shoulder." Maggie pointed out. "Nope, she's here. Just under her _real_ name."

"Her real name?" Natalie's confusion was obvious. "Ava isn't her real name?"

"Turns out it isn't. A lot of what we knew about her isn't real. I went up there earlier on my break, even the accent has gone."

"The accent was fake?"

"Yep, and she didn't even mention it."

"Do we know why?"

"Looks like it was witness protection, but no one will confirm anything."

"That actually makes sense. The guy I was with kept asking about her, making comments that suggested she wasn't who she said she was, and he seemed desperate to get a hold of her."

"Well," Maggie let out a sigh. "He got six bullets to the abdomen for his trouble, so maybe now he realises he may well have been better off if he'd left her alone."

Natalie nodded. "So where is she?"

"Fourth floor recovery. You'll know which room, it's the one with the armed guard."

"Seriously?"

Maggie nodded. "I hope you have ID on you."

Natalie laughed, pulling her license out of her bag. "Hospital ID is still in evidence. I guess I should be glad I didn't have this on me that day, and glad that Helen brought it down here."

"Say 'hi' for me." Maggie requested. "And ask about the accent!"

"You're not going to drop that, are you?"

"She has a different voice. I'm impressed."

**-Ghosts-**

"Did you sleep well?"

"Not really."

Hailey frowned at Ava's admission. "Why not?"

"I had the dream again."

The mention caused Connor to sit up straighter, listening intently to the conversation. He'd noted her restlessness during the night, but she'd played it down when he'd asked. "What dream?"

"Why are you still here?"

Connor gave Hailey a small smile, intent on not letting anything escalate. "Day off."

"Then go home."

"I'm good here."

"You have no reason to be here."

"How'd you figure that?"

"You're her ex." Hailey reminded him. "Ex as in former. It's weird that you're hanging around."

"We have a lot that we need to talk about."

"What?" Hailey scoffed. "Like Chloe?"

"What's Chloe got to do with this?" They were both surprised when Ava interrupted, she had made a habit that morning of zoning out whenever the two of them started. "He doesn't even know Chloe."

"He hasn't told you?" Hailey sent another glare towards the man. "He thinks Chloe killed his dad."

Ava turned to him so fast that they had both been expecting the groan of pain that the action resulted in. "Why the hell would Chloe kill your dad?"

He briefly glanced to Hailey, slightly confused and needing confirmation. "Is Chloe the one that was on the CCTV?"

"She was visiting her sister." Hailey confirmed. "She barely even acknowledged you dad existed."

It was Ava's turn to look confused. "Chloe didn't visit me."

The detective let out a sigh. "She wanted to tell you herself. She found out where you were and started coming to the hospital to watch you."

"How did she find out?" Ava questioned. "Why didn't she talk to me?"

Neither of them had the time to give her an answer, they all turned when the door opened, watching Ava's focus change as Natalie walked into the room.

"Getting yourself shot." Natalie joked. "I guess you topped Will and I getting run down."

"You're okay." Ava smiled. "I'm sorry about all of this."

"The way I hear it," Natalie moved as Connor stood, taking the chair he had occupied. "You're the one who gave them the opening to get me out."

"I did?"

"It was like a fortress." Hailey elaborated. "When Dalton came to get you, almost everyone there went with him. Made it really easy to send a team in to extract her."

"At least something worked out, then."

Natalie gave a small nod. "How's the shoulder."

"It's fine. I can't even flinch without someone offering me pain relief. How's your head?"

"A lot better than Dalton thinks it is." Natalie smiled. "I played it up to avoid telling him anything about you."

"Thanks." Ava seemed genuinely surprised. "That could have saved my life, you know."

"What did he want with you anyway?"

Ava turned to Hailey, her gaze questioning.

"She's not really allowed to talk about it outside of specific agreed circumstances until it goes to trial."

Natalie nodded in understanding. "I have a question from Maggie too."

Ava seemed bemused. "Okay."

"What happened to the accent?"

Ava couldn't help but laugh, doing her best to ignore the pain. "I was wondering how long it would be before someone asked."

"Jay said it would be Natalie." Hailey interrupted. "If it came from Maggie though, we're telling him it was Maggie?"

"Definitely." Ava agreed. "I thought it would be Lanik."

"When was Lanik here?" Connor, having remained silent throughout the conversation, decided he had to ask at the mention of their colleague.

"He wasn't." Ava's answer was polite in contrast to Hailey's "Why do you care?"

Ignoring her friend's comment, Ava turned to Natalie. "It was never real. I took part in a lot of local theatre throughout my teens, when I was moved to Cape Town I decided to commit to the role. Agent Stevens and my first marshal were all for it, it made..." She paused, turning to Hailey. "Am I allowed to be saying any of this?"

"About Ava, yes, but not who you became when you were moved last week because of how recent it is. You might still need to disappear again until the trial. Stevens does think we got them all, though."

"Did they get Jess?" Ava quipped. "Hated her."

"The arrest reports say yes."

"You mean he still hasn't figured it out?"

"The guy's obsessed with me, Maddie, anything short of me actively and undeniably preventing him from getting what he wants goes right over his head."

"Maddie." Natalie repeated the name, and for the first time they realised that none of them had used it in front of her. "Do we call you that from now on?"

"No." Ava smiled. "Still Ava. I'm not sure how to be Maddie any more. Maybe I'll figure it out someday, but if I ever do it won't be soon. I was still Maddie when Hailey met me, so she uses both names, always has."

"Always will." Hailey added. She glanced to her watch, before looking up to the others. "We should all probably think about heading off for a while. Dr. Charles will be here soon."

**-Ghosts-**

"So the dream is back?"

Ava nodded. "It was just that one part this time though. I get out the car, I'm screaming for my mom and Uncle John turns back to me, tells me to get back in the car."

"You do have every reason to feel unsettled." Dr. Charles pointed out. "The past few weeks have been very traumatic for you."

"It had been almost two years, though." She pointed out. "And it's completely unconnected to everything."

"I would argue that it's connected to everything you do." He countered. "The day your mother died is one of very few days that shaped who you are more than any other. You watched it all happen, and were powerless to stop it, that's a lot to deal with. Whenever something happens to make you feel unsettled, your instinctive reaction is to turn to your mother, which in turn takes you back to the moment you lost her."

"I haven't really thought about her much recently."

"It doesn't go away when you're not thinking about her." He reminded her. "You know that." He watched her for a moment. "What's bothering you the most right now?"

"I thought that seeing Uncle John again, and knowing that Chloe is near, would feel different."

"How so?"

"It's all I've wanted. For years it's the only thing I've really wanted, but when I saw him walk into this room yesterday, I was scared."

"Why do you think that is?"

Unable to shrug, she bit her lip. "He raised me. What if he didn't like who I am now? What if he had been expecting that same 21 year old that he had to leave behind?" She paused. "And Chloe, she was so messed up when we were separated. She was barely there, in some ways, it was like something inside her had died when she was with Dalton. I want to see her, but I'm worried about what I'm going to find when I do." Another hesitation. "I feel like I let mom down when I let them separate us. Chloe needed me and I abandoned her. She's been coming to see me here for the best part of a year and never even approached me. She has to blame me."

"If she blamed you, why would she be coming here to see you at all?"

"Even if she doesn't, I still abandoned her."

"It was for the safety of your entire family. I'm sure she understands, and I'm sure your mother would understand."

"How can I really know that?" Ava queried. "I was eight when she died. I don't have many memories of her. Ella always remembered more but she wouldn't really share much about her."

Dr. Charles paused for a moment, realising they were about to enter uncharted territory. Ava had spoken about her mother's death before, and about her uncle, about Chloe and Matthew, about her youngest brother Alexander, who had died with her mother, and about what had happened with Dalton, but there were two subjects she had never allowed them to properly discuss, shutting any conversation down whenever they came up – her father, who she had never mentioned at all, and Ella who came up only when absolutely required, and never in any real depth. They were both subjects he knew would lead to significant progress if he could get her to open up.

"Why wouldn't Ella talk about your mother?"

"She would." Ava frowned. "But she always said the same thing. Mom was weak. Mom and Alex died because mom was weak."

"Your mom was driving the afternoon of the accident?"

"No." Ava corrected, then caught herself before confirming more than she was willing to. "She wasn't."

"So who was driving?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Was it your father?"

The anger flared up in her almost instantly, her silence saying what her words never could.

"So it was your father."

"Don't call him that."

"Don't call him what?"

"My _father_." The word sounded like acid. "That man was no father."

"But he was to Ella?"

"He treated Ella like shit."

"Do you think she claimed your mother was weak because she didn't stop him from treating her badly?"

"No. She always stopped him. She always protected us."

"So why would Ella remember things differently?"

"She doesn't." Ava's glare was intense. "Mom was leaving him that day. Ella said she was weak for leaving him, that if she'd stayed, they'd all still be alive."

"You know she can't know that for sure."

"Try telling her that."

"So this has been a great source of conflict for yourself and Ella?"

"No." Ava denied. "I always tried to pretend it didn't bother me. Matty and Chloe, they don't remember, it was better not to make a big deal of it."

"So you've held on to the anger?"

"I've had to."

"Why do you feel you can talk about it now?" He decided to raise the question, hoping it wouldn't cause her to shut down.

"I can't see her again and still be angry." Ava sighed. "She always loved us. She was barely ten and she gave up her childhood to help Uncle John with us." She glanced towards the floor. "As we got older, it was Ella's decision to homeschool us. Uncle John was always late picking us up, Matthew was always getting upset by the questions he was asked, Chloe would have got the same." She looked back up. "I was bored. So when she turned 13, Ella decided we should be homeschooled, and got Uncle John to agree. She found a tutor herself, then after a couple of years, completely took over. She graduated early, and put college off for us. She gave up everything."

"Those were her choices."

A nod.

"You're not responsible for her choices, and her good choices don't change her bad ones." When she didn't answer, he opted to continue. "Lets go back to the dream, the day your mother died. Where was Ella in this?"

"She was in the car with them."

"And you weren't." He stated what he remembered. "You and Matthew were in your uncle's car, behind them." They'd gone over the story before, but with the new insight as to who was really driving that day, he had a new angle. One she needed to come to terms with.

"He'd picked us up from school. He was meant to pick Ella up too, but she was sick that day, so it was only us. We were already in his car when mom's car drove past, and Uncle John started panicking, she wasn't meant to be there, she was meant to meet us at his house. He followed it."

"So you saw it when it crashed."

Ava nodded. "Uncle John pulled over, he told us to stay in the car."

"But you didn't."

"Matty was crying. I wanted my mom."

"But you couldn't get to her."

A shake of the head. "Alex and mom died at the scene. Ella and Chloe were taken to hospital."

"And the driver?" He was careful not to refer to the man as her father.

"Hospital. He died a couple of days later."

"Do you believe the crash was an intentional act?"

"I don't know." He could tell she was beginning to get worked up. "I never saw him before he died. I refused."

Dr. Charles nodded. "Do you regret that?"

"Maybe."

**-Ghosts-**

"What time is it?"

"A little after five." Hailey answered, looking up from the magazine she had been reading. "Why?"

"Visiting hours are over." Ava mused. "I thought Uncle John would come back today. Maybe Chloe, too." Her curiosity grew as she saw Hailey's expression change. "What?"

"John and Chloe are at the precinct." Hailey admitted. "She's being questioned."

"They actually think it was her?"

"Not about that." The detective was quick to elaborate. "She was questioned about that yesterday evening. She gave them another angle that I will let her tell you about herself. She's being questioned about how she found out where you were, why she didn't report it, that sort of thing."

"Why?"

"It was dangerous for you to know where each other are."

"I know, but Dalton didn't find me because of her."

"We need to be sure."

Ava frowned. "Do they think she sold me out?"

"I don't really know what they're thinking." Hailey admitted. "I haven't been there much."

"You don't need to be here all the time you know, if you need to work it's fine."

"I want to be here." Hailey insisted. "Besides, I am working. I'm guarding a witness."

"That's cheating."

Hailey laughed, spying Connor approaching the room. "Besides, someone's got to keep an eye on your stalker ex." A brief pause. "Has he told you why he's hanging around yet?"

"No." Ava followed her gaze, watching him pause to briefly speak to a nurse. "I'm doing this thing where I avoid talking about anything or answering any questions that may lead to a difficult conversation." She turned a playful accusing gaze on her friend. "Speaking of which, you told him?"

"Not in detail." Hailey turned back. "I was angry, it kind of just came out."

"I don't know what to tell him, or even if it matters any more. He didn't even give me a chance to say anything before, so why should I say anything now."

"Would you have said anything before? If he had asked."

"No." It was the honest answer. "I couldn't. He either wouldn't have believed me anyway or would have wanted me to report it, which I couldn't do. There was no point."

"What about that day you got cut in the OR?" Hailey continued. "Have you told him what was going on that day?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"He thought I did it intentionally. That I would do something so life changing to get his attention. What does that say about him?"

"Nothing good."

"Besides, even if I do tell him, he'll find something else to blame me for anyway."

"Maybe." Hailey agreed. "But maybe not."

"Are you defending him?"

"No." The answer came rapidly. "But if you get everything out in the open, or as much as you're allowed to say, he won't be able to accuse you of lying to him, and you won't be left wondering."

"You think I should tell him?"

"I don't think he deserves to know anything." Hailey shrugged. "But, as much as it pains me to give him something he seems to want, you may need to tell him for you." She briefly turned again. "I don't think he'll leave you alone until everything is cleared up, anyway."

Ava considered the suggestion for a moment. "I wouldn't know where to start." She paused, noticing him start to move again, heading their way. "And I'm not even sure I want to."


	13. Chapter 13

Ava hadn't been expecting any visitors for a few more hours when the door opened, so she didn't bother to look up straight away, assuming it would be one of the nurses – they were in and out all day, after all. When there was no immediate approach she assumed it was Connor, taking an early lunch break, or Hailey, ignoring her request that she go home to sleep, and not return until the evening. John had been by earlier, explained to her he was trying to get Matthew transferred so that he could be closer to them, and it was proving to be a bigger hassle than he had expected, but she wasn't expecting him back for a while.

When she looked up, though, it was like a mirror of her own eyes looking back at her. Eyes that belonged to her startled, clearly overwhelmed sister. She was frozen, observing her warily, and Ava wasn't sure how to break the moment.

She was still thinking when Chloe finally spoke. "Did Ella stop by?"

Ava frowned. "No, why?"

"She came into the city and handed Alexander to Agent Stevens, who gave him to Uncle John this afternoon. Agent Stevens said she told her that if the danger is over she didn't see why she should keep him."

"Alexander?"

"Our nephew." Chloe specified. "They said you knew about him."

Ava felt the lump in her throat as she realised what was being said. "Matty named his son after Alex."

Chloe nodded. "They didn't tell you that?"

"No."

Chloe moved forward jumping onto the end of the bed as she had always done as a child, her eyes widening at the act until she was reassured that it was okay. "So Ella didn't stop by?"

"No." Ava couldn't help but smile at the sight of her sister. "I haven't seen her."

"What a bitch."

"Chlo."

"She is." Chloe shrugged off the objection. "You should know that better than anyone. How many times did you have to step in when she was having a go at us?"

"Point taken."

"Why do you get a guard and I don't?"

The question got a laugh out of Ava. "Dalton's here. Few of his guys are too. Based on what Hailey's said, he's awake."

"Hailey?" Chloe repeated the name. "The officer from years ago, right?"

"Right."

"She's still around?"

"Yeah."

"I haven't seen her."

"She's been here for the past few days."

"That explains it." Chloe decided. "You stole my guard." They shared a grin before Chloe continued. "It's so good to see you again."

"Chlo," Ava sighed. "I know you've been coming by to see me." She paused, watching her sister's reaction. "Why didn't you ever come and talk to me?"

"I couldn't. You'd have reported it, and then I wouldn't have been able to any more."

"You don't know that.

"You've played by the rules your whole life, Maddie."

"Things change."

Chloe laughed. "I can't picture you as a rebel."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"A little rule breaking is enough of a change."

"More like rule bending." Ava paused, knowing they had to have a serious conversation. "Chloe, how did you find me? When?"

The younger woman bit her lip, clearly nervous about answering those questions. "It was October. Last year." She hesitated, looking down at her hands. "My friend worked in the city. As a PA. Her boss was horrible, he'd assault women and then pay them off. She started this dossier type thing, she wanted to expose him. She never really said much about it, but she showed it to me one day, everything she had. Memos, invoices, CCTV images." Another pause as she looked back up to her sister. "I knew it was you when she showed me the images."

Ava remained silent for a moment, unsure of how to respond. She knew exactly who the man was, and Cornelius Rhodes wasn't someone she had ever wanted her family to know about. "I'm fine, I got away."

"I know." Chloe admitted. "You looked terrified, though. At first I just wanted to check on you, and Imogen was all too happy to tell me who you were and where you worked. I don't think she realised how much it meant to me. So I came by. You weren't okay. It looked like everyone thought you were, but I knew better, so I kept coming."

"So I've heard."

"No one noticed until February. I forgot a routine check in and came by. My marshal freaked and reported that I had gone missing."

"I remember that day. I got a call telling me to be vigilant, that they had reason to believe I could be in imminent danger."

"And you got hurt." Chloe sounded apologetic. "Agent Stevens was really on my case about that yesterday. She said you got distracted when you were put on alert."

"I did." Ava admitted. "It was just a cut, though, nothing huge."

Chloe nodded. "I kept coming, but I was more careful after that, and I figured just in case, I should tell someone where I'm going, so someone could tell them before they freak."

"Who did you tell?"

"My foster brother, Blake." Chloe let out a regretful sigh. "Not my best choice, but he was around at the time. He asked questions I answered. I told him who you were and what had happened to you with Imogen's boss. Then one day, he decided to come with me." She turned away again. "If I had known _he _was here I'd never have agreed. When I saw him though, I pointed him out." She looked back to Ava. "I'm not saying that Blake killed him, but he did disappear for10 minutes."

"He wouldn't have had access to the drugs, Chlo." Ava tried. "Where would he have got..."

"Agent Stevens said something about insulin." The younger woman interrupted. "Blake's diabetic."

**-Ghosts-**

Ava had been quieter than ever when he had returned, barely even acknowledging him as he joined her for lunch. He could tell she was deep in thought, but wasn't sure whether or not to try and get answers from her. She hadn't been all that willing to open up to him recently, and that frustrated him more and more every day, especially now that he had decided he at least needed to get her version of events when it came to everything he had been accusing her of. Still, he opted not to distract her from her thoughts, so he was surprised when, some 30 minutes after he arrived, she asked a question he had never thought he'd hear from her.

"The insulin used to kill your father came from the hospital, right?"

He frowned, it was a strange question for anyone to ask. "They haven't identified the source yet." He paused, watching her frown deepen. "Why?"

"Just wondering."

He observed her for a moment. "No you're not, what is it?"

She let out a sigh, turning to him. "Something Chloe said."

"Chloe's been by?"

"Couple of hours ago."

"What did she say?"

He could see her internally debating whether or not to tell him before she spoke. "The last time she came by, she brought someone with her, this person disappeared for 10 minutes. And he's diabetic."

"Oh."

"So if the insulin came from the hospital it couldn't have been him, but if it didn't..."

"Then it probably was?"

Ava nodded. "She wasn't meant to be connected to any of this."

He took a moment to consider how he would feel if it were his own sister. "Has she reported it?"

"The FBI questioned her about it. She said she was honest."

"That's the only thing she can do."

"I guess."

"Ava," He began, knowing he had to word his next question carefully. "Why would your sister's friend want to hurt my father?"

Ava looked away, opting to stare out at the ward as she answered. "Because Chloe found out that he hurt me."

"So what Upton said..."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does." He decided to insist. "I get it, you're pushing me away, and I deserve that, but I need to give you what I didn't before, and I'm going to, as long as it takes."

"Give me what?"

"A chance to tell your side of the story."

"None of that matters now."

"It does."

"No. It doesn't."

She was nothing if not stubborn, he'd learned that pretty soon after meeting her, but she'd been different since she'd been admitted, since she had been reunited with her family. Still tough, but a little softer round the edges. He'd hoped that would extend to him, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"Of course it does." He tried reasoning. "In the very least we have to work together, it's better for us to get everything out in the open and clear the air."

"If I even stay."

"Why would you not stay?"

"You heard what Hailey said, they might have to move me again, and if not, I have a family that I am now allowed to see. My place is with them and their lives aren't here."

"You can be a part of their lives without moving."

"Why do you even care?" There was an anger in her eyes that he had only ever seen once before – when he had used unconventional tactics to move his patient above hers on the transplant list. "It's got nothing to do with you."

"I don't want things to stay like this between us." He hoped that if he was honest, she would respond in kind. "All of this anger and hurt isn't helpful. Look, we both messed up, both did things we shouldn't have..."

"Of course." She interrupted. "I must apologise. I'm so sorry Connor, for not telling you my entire life story while doing so could get me killed. I absolutely should have put you before my life, and my family's lives."

"Sarcasm." He smiled. "There's the Ava I know."

She scoffed, turning away from him.

"I wasn't talking about that. I understand that." He decided to at least try and explain. "I meant the risky surgery with Caroline Charles. You going to my dad for the funding without talking to me about it..." He cut off briefly as she turned to him, about to object, deciding to continue before she interrupted again. "I'm not saying that I believe what he said, not any more anyway, now I don't know what to believe. I'm just saying that you knew I wouldn't like it and you did it anyway."

She frowned, and he could tell that she understood. If she didn't she'd be verbally objecting. Instead she was thinking, seemingly trying to choose her words carefully, so he waited until she was ready to respond.

"Pretty much my whole life has been other people making decisions for me. That's how it works when you're a kid but when I turned eighteen I still had an older sister doing all she could to run my life. I was a couple of months away from twenty two when I was put into witness protection, then someone else got to decide where I lived, how long I stayed there, even who I could see. Someone else chose my name and age, where and when I could travel." She paused. "So when it comes to decisions I can make myself, I never ask. I don't get a lot of choice, I have to take what I can."

He nodded, it made sense, and he finally felt they were making something resembling progress, he just needed to try and keep it going. "I get it, I just wish you had made a different decision." He sighed. "Maybe just asking me to stay."

"Ask you to stay?" Her expression was almost one of disbelief. "You were already packed and ready to go without a second thought to anyone else and you think I should have asked you to stay? Like it was that easy?"

"Yes."

She rolled her eyes. "Right, and you would have given up your big new job and stayed here just because I asked."

"Yes." He repeated. "I would."

She stared at him for a moment, and he could tell she was trying to read his expression. "No you wouldn't."

He was about to object when the sound of the door opening stopped him in his tracks, and he looked up to see John entering the room, his arms full and the agent holding the door for him. As soon as the door had closed behind him, he placed the toddler on the floor, allowing him to wander around the room, approaching his niece with the box he had been carrying in his other arm.

"What's that?" Ava's attention had diverted to her uncle, watching as he placed the box on the bed next to her.

"Finally got them to dig out the things we had on us when we went into the program. The stuff they took away from us." He pointed to the side of the box, the words _'Downes, Madison L' _written clearly on the space. "Chloe's currently back at the hotel going through her old mp3 player."

He opened the box, pulling out an old cell phone and iPod that Ava hadn't seen in years, followed by a purse, long expired bank cards and old receipts still inside, an engraved watch and an old tape player followed before he paused opening it and looking up questioningly.

"The tape was in my sock." She hadn't needed to be asked the question. "They never checked."

"Why was it in your sock?"

"I knew I'd have to leave it if I told them about it. I couldn't leave it."

Connor stayed silent, thinking back to the tape he had found in her locker not all that long ago. He assumed it was the same tape.

"You having that could have identified you."

"They wouldn't have needed that." Ava pointed out. "Dalton used to sit across from me at the dinner table regularly. He watched me grow up. All he'd have needed to do was see me."

"I should never have allowed him into your lives."

"He was your closest friend." She reminded him. "You had just become a single parent of four practically overnight. It would have been insane to turn down the support."

The toddler, oblivious to the conversation, tired of exploring the room, and Ava watched him approach Connor out of the corner of her eye, climbing onto his lap as if he'd known him his whole life.

"Hey, what's your name?"

The boy screwed up his face, turning back to John, then to Ava.

"He looks so much like Matthew."

John nodded. "It's striking." He stepped towards Connor, holding his arms out. "Here, I'll take him."

"It's fine." Connor smiled. "Kids just tend to like me."

"It might be the scrubs." John considered. "They told me he spent a lot of time in hospitals after his parents..."

"Is Matty okay?"

"Improving every day." John confirmed. "They're saying he's not stable enough to be moved yet, though, so he has to stay in Seattle."

"Seattle?" Ava queried. "How did Dalton find him there? He never worked in Seattle."

"From what I can make out, he expanded the business over the past few years."

Ava nodded. "You should go up there."

"I don't want to leave you behind."

"I shouldn't be in here long." She answered. "If Stevens clears it, Chloe can come with you, and I can come when I'm discharged."

"I don't like the idea of you travelling alone while you can't use your arm."

"Okay." Ava had to agree that that was a concern. "You can go now. Chloe can stay with me until I'm discharged and we'll go together."

"I guess that could work." John turned to Connor. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Why are you asking him?"

As John turned back to his niece, Connor fought the urge to object, to say he absolutely did mind. He wanted answers, and he wouldn't get them if she disappeared again, but he knew he didn't have the right.

"You don't think your boyfriend would have an opinion when it comes to you leaving town for a while?"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"He's not?"

"No."

"Then why's he always here?"

"Probably thinks I'm going to make a break for it before he can have me arrested for crimes I didn't commit."

"I don't think that!" Connor was defensive, his tone causing her to turn to him, and he realised that he didn't want this man to have a low opinion of him. He wasn't even sure why that mattered. "Okay, I did at one point, but Halstead cleared up the thing with Robin, and you have an alibi for my dad, I've got no reason to think that."

"You thought the Robin thing was me, too?!"

"Not for long."

She shook her head, turning back to her uncle. "He might just be trying to stop me from reporting him for grey area medical decisions he makes." There was a look of satisfaction on her face when he failed to respond. "I doubt he would be here to stop me intentionally infecting myself with HIV. That's something I did. In his mind anyway."

John frowned, glancing to Connor. "Am I missing something?"

**-Ghosts-**

Hailey smiled gratefully at her partner as he handed her some coffee. After opting to head to the precinct instead of going home when Ava had insisted she take some time for herself, she'd failed to realise how tired she was – her need to be in the know had taken priority.

It had taken some time for Agent Stevens to properly brief her, filling her in on the past few days, and it made her regret her choice to allow herself to fall out of the loop, only picking up the little Jay had managed to share with her. She'd been glad to hear that what they believed was the last of Dalton's associates had been found. They'd taken down his whole enterprise, even if it had taken them years to get there.

"What are we looking at with the trial?"

Agent Stevens frowned, still focused on the board. "The plan is to consolidate the charges. One trial instead of many. It'll be far from straightforward though. The inclusion of the less serious charges is being debated. There's discussion that we should focus on the most serious offences."

"I guess there's no chance of him pleading guilty."

"The second he woke up he lawyered up, so we haven't really been able to speak to him. He gave a statement through his lawyer denying the murders though. No mention of the attempted murder charges and the abductions."

"He probably can't excuse those away."

"This most recent shooting. His second attempted murder of Madison, that's a solid case. None of his men were there to shoot, Atwater and Burgess didn't have her in their line of fire, you and Halstead never fired at all, he's the only possible shooter. The first attempt has too much room for doubt. So many people were shooting that day, the bullet shattered on impact, we didn't hear him give the order..."

"He could claim someone else shot her."

"Can and will. For all we know, that could be true."

"He was still ultimately responsible."

"Knowing it and proving it are different things."

"He's not walking away from this a free man whatever happens."

"He's not." Agent Stevens agreed. "There's too much evidence and too many witnesses, even some of his own people have agreed to talk."

"What's happening with the witnesses?" Hailey queried. "The trial won't be for a while. Will Voight still be handling them?"

"We identified the leak yesterday. Dalton had flipped someone in the Marshal's office, was paying a lot of money to be sent witnesses files."

"Who?"

"That's need to know." Agent Stevens opted not to answer. "For the time being. She wasn't good at covering her tracks, though. It should have been flagged sooner."

Hailey nodded. "So the witnesses are going back under?"

"Some will be moved." The agent confirmed, before giving the answer she knew Hailey really wanted. "Madison is safe while she's in hospital, we have clearance to have someone with her at all times. Once she's discharged, the choice will be hers, but we would prefer to move her until the trial." She paused, turning to Hailey for the next part. "With her family, this time."

"She'll be relieved about that. "Hailey smiled. "She's missed..."

"We have a problem!"

They both turned at the exclamation, moving over to Atwater's desk, where one of the agents had been stationed. He turned the computer screen to them as they approached, and Hailey felt the blood drain from her face. This was not good.

"How the hell did this happen?!" The fury in the agent's voice was clear. She turned back to the agent. "I want their source."

Hailey could only watch as he scrambled for his phone, the action only a momentary distraction from what was on the screen. She could hear him dialling as she read and reread the headline, hoping it would disappear.

**Missing NY family found alive in Chicago.**

Shit.


	14. Chapter 14

Connor had been on his way to see Ava, hoping she had calmed down following their conversations the previous day, when he saw her standing at the nurses station, a look of annoyance on her face. He frowned, pausing for a moment to debate whether or not he should approach when, if anything, she seemed even more distressed than she had yesterday, and the clear increased police presence was off-putting, but he ultimately opted to head towards her. He wanted the truth, and he didn't want her even temporarily thinking he was going to give up on getting it.

"Hey."

She turned to him when he spoke. "Hey."

He was surprised she'd answered, he hadn't been expecting more than a roll of the eyes or a scoff after yesterday, but her frustration today didn't seem to be directed at him. He had to be grateful.

"Are you supposed to be out here?"

"Dr. Evanson wants me to move around more." She volunteered the information. "And I was feeling a little claustrophobic."

He followed her gaze back to the room, spotting her uncle immediately, and a young woman he assumed was her sister, as well as a couple of agents. He was sure if he could see the whole room, the young boy from the day before would probably be there too.

"That's quite a bit of company."

"They're staying here now."

"For the day?"

After some hesitation, she answered. "Until I leave, I think."

"I can't see Goodwin clearing that."

"She already has."

He frowned. "Do you know why?"

"They won't tell me. Just that they need to secure us all in one location." She sighed, turning away from the room. "Dr. Evanson won't discharge me yet, so they have to stay here."

"Are you worried?"

"No." She decided. "I'll just ask Hailey."

"What's the deal with her?" He decided to risk asking. "How long have you known her?"

"Six years. We met in 2013." The answer came quickly. "I'm not allowed to say more than that."

"Okay." He knew not to push, after all, after the past few days, he figured that it likely was the truth. "Did you want to go somewhere? I know you can't leave the hospital, but you can get a change of scenery."

"I'm not allowed to leave the floor."

"Really?" Despite the drastic change in attitude she had confronted him with today, he couldn't help but wonder if it was a lie designed to help her continue to avoid the conversation they had to have.

"None of us are." She sighed, glancing around. "Doctors lounge might be empty."

He was surprised she had made the suggestion, but followed as she started to walk towards it, pushing open the door with her only free hand and, after confirming that the room was indeed vacant, entering it. He waited until the door closed behind them before speaking.

"You're going to talk to me now?"

She nodded.

"You're sure?"

She sat down, looking up at him and nodding again. "After you left yesterday, Uncle John and I talked. I told him everything."

"Okay." He decided not to say more, prompting her to continue.

"He said he understands why I'm upset, and agrees that you were out of line." She filled him in, pausing as she watched confusion begin to cloud his features. "But he also reminded me that, even though I didn't have a choice, I _have_ been lying to you since we met, and you must have known that to some extent, so I need to understand why you don't trust me." She paused again. "I guess he reminded me of what Madison would do."

"You know it's strange when you act like Madison is a different person."

She laughed. "In some ways she is. When all of this started, I had to change, I had to be different. It was the only way I could survive. Dr. Charles once told me that when I had to become someone else, I had to grieve for who I used to be, and that when I did that, it was almost like she became someone else."

"Complicated."

"It is." She admitted. "But Uncle John is right, you don't have a clue who I am because Madison hasn't really gone." She paused. "I slept on it, and I've decided."

"Decided what?"

"There's some things I'm not ready to talk about, and other things I'm not allowed to talk about yet." She warned him. "But I can tell you about Madison." A pause. "I can tell you who I am."

"You're sure you're ready for this?"

Ava nodded. "I know it's not what you really want to hear, you want the explanations for the past few months. Most of those things, I'm not ready Connor, and with some, I just can't. I don't know if I'll ever be able to."

"Okay."

She let out a nervous sigh. "Okay, so the basics. Madison Downes is my real name, Madison Lauren. I was born in New York, lived there my whole life until..." She cut off. "My birthday is in September, not July. Second of five kids. My older sister, Ella, is only fourteen months older than me. Then it was Matthew, he's two years younger than me, Chloe is five years younger. Alex was seven years younger."

"Was?"

"He died." Ava leaned back, only shifting as she felt him take the seat next to her. "With my mom. I was eight. Almost nine."

"Ava..." He cut off. "I'm so sorry."

"It was a long time ago." She paused. "I don't really want to go into it."

He nodded. "Okay."

"That's why we ended up living with our uncle."

"What about your dad?"

She looked at him, and for a second he was worried the question would lead her to completely close off again. "Dead."

He knew not to ask more. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not." She didn't give him the opportunity to comment. "Uncle John was great. A little out of his depth, but he figured it out. He used to rely a lot on his friends though. He was in advertising, he couldn't always finish work before we got out from school. By the time I was twelve we were being homeschooled. I preferred it. Less questions about my mom, and I could work at my own pace without the comments that always came with being ahead of everyone else."

"It wasn't lonely?"

"I was never lonely, not with Matty and Chloe around."

"And Ella?"

"Ella was different. Almost damaged. She was angry all the time. She would do anything for us, but a lot of the time it felt like she resented us for it. Uncle John used to call her 'spitfire'"

"What did he call you?"

She let out another laugh. "He's called me 'Mouse' for as long as I can remember. I was the opposite of Ella. Calm, usually quiet. For a couple of months after we lost mom, I didn't speak at all. I was only ever loud when I had to be. I was the family peacekeeper, always ready to step in when Ella got too much, or when Matty and Chloe were fighting, he used to call me his 'diplomat' quite a bit."

Connor couldn't help but join her laughter at the title. "I can't see it."

"I had to change all that." She continued. "To be Ava."

"Was it difficult?"

"Yeah." Ava admitted. "I had to be a whole new person. For a while I had to fight my instincts to make it work. I wasn't always so..." she hesitated, "abrasive. I had to learn." Another pause. "And it worked out, this career path, Madison probably wouldn't have made it."

"Keeping the peace isn't weak."

"I know, but in our line of work, it's not really a viable game plan. Everyone would have walked all over me."

He knew it was true, he'd had to learn to be a little more ruthless himself when he was just starting out. "You'd have figured it out."

"Maybe." She gave a weak smile. "I guess I was always disciplined. Local theatre, ballet, piano and guitar. Matty and I took karate together."

"Full calendar."

"I think at first, Uncle John was trying to distract us. After mom and Alex." She glanced towards the door. "The whole idea that if we were busy we didn't have time to be sad."

"Not the best thing to do."

"No." Ava agreed. "But I get it. Three grieving kids and a toddler that doesn't understand that mom being dead means she's not coming back. It wasn't easy. He was just trying to make it a little easier. He even moved into our house at first, so we didn't have to move, we stayed there for a while, until my therapist told him the house was bad for me."

"This is when you were eight?"

"Nine." She corrected. "It was around the November after they had died that we moved, so I had turned nine. I started the therapy when I was eight though. We all did, after what happened, he thought it was for the best."

"Did it..."

He didn't get to finish his question, the door bursting open and interrupting them. They both looked to it, and he frowned at the sight of Hailey Upton staring back at them before she briefly turned around, calling back. "She's here."

The detective turned to Ava, arms crossed and frowning, "What were you thinking? You can't just vanish."

"They said I couldn't leave the floor and I didn't."

"That's not the point, and you know it. You should have told someone you were coming in here."

"Upton, she's..."

"Fine." Hailey interrupted Connor's attempt at calming the situation. "Yes, I know, but we can't just assume that when it comes to her."

"Hails" Ava smiled, sensing that her friend had been worried. "I'm okay. We were just talking. It was too crowded out there."

Hailey seemed to relax a little, stepping into the room. "Don't you think I already have enough reason to worry about you?"

Ava was about to respond when Chloe appeared behind the detective, pausing for barely a second before stepping around the older woman and heading over to where she and Connor were sitting.

Seeing the younger woman up close felt quite confronting for Connor, knowing that she had brought the person who likely killed his father into the hospital. He knew he couldn't fault her for checking in on her sister, after all, if it had been Claire he would have done the same thing, but he struggled with knowing that if she had told anyone else, then things could be different today. Still, he knew that for now at least, he had to push those feelings aside. He and Ava were starting to get on again, and he knew that wouldn't last if he was showing any animosity towards her sister.

"Hi, you must be Chloe." He stood up, holding out a hand. "I'm Connor."

The young woman turned to him, staring at his hand, a ferocity in her gaze when she eventually looked up. "I know who you are. And I know what you did." She turned back to Ava. "Why were you in here with him?"

"We had some stuff we needed to talk about." Ava was just as confused as Connor was as to the cause of the hostility. "Chloe, what do you think he did?"

"I was in the hospital a lot, Maddie." Chloe reminded her. "I heard the things he was saying about you. I even heard some of the things he was saying to you. You don't owe him anything."

"There were some regretful misunderstandings." Connor opted not to deny anything.

Chloe rolled her eyes, reminding him so much of her sister in the process. "Your father attacked her, you blamed her for it and did everything you could to hurt her."

"Chlo..." Ava started. "I never told him what happened."

Chloe took a moment, taking in the information before deciding on a response. "So what? You don't treat people the way he treated you."

"We're working through those issues." Connor commented. "Figuring it out."

"Until the next time you want to play the blame game." Chloe shot back, turning back to her sister. "You're better off without him."

"Connor," Hailey started. "Maybe you should go back to work. Let things calm down."

He nodded, smiling at Ava before reluctantly heading out of the room. He knew it was for the best. Ava didn't need the stress. None of them did.

As soon as Connor had disappeared from view, Hailey turned back to the two other women. "Chloe, you should go and help your uncle with Alex."

"Why?"

"Because he needs help."

"No he doesn't."

"Chloe." Ava interrupted the exchange. "Go, I'll be right behind you."

Chloe rolled her eyes again, but left the room as asked as Hailey sat down next to her friend.

"Did you tell him?"

"No."

"Good."

"I feel horrible about it."

"It's for the best." Hailey sighed. "Besides, you know Chloe has a point, even if she didn't express it in the best way."

Ava nodded. "It's just nice. Talking to him without him accusing me of anything."

"Just remember how much he hurt you." Hailey decided. "It'll make not telling him easier."

"What's happened, Hailey? Why are there suddenly cops everywhere? Why today?"

The detective placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Your location was leaked to the media. The only concern is that we don't know who by and why they did it. The increased security is just a precaution, and it's only for now. For today."

**-Ghosts-**

"The missing persons case is still open?"

"NYPD have confirmed it." Agent Hollins answered. "Want to know when they can close it, though."

Agent Stevens frowned, ignoring the comment and turning to Voight. "So that didn't tip the media off."

"It was a long shot." He pointed out. "Local PD closing a case wouldn't give the media a location."

"And they won't give us that source without a fight."

"So we work from the inside out." Voight decided. "Check every call log for every phone in this building and the phones of everyone working this case. Make sure the leak didn't come from us. If it didn't, we move on to the hospital. Tell Goodwin it's to protect one of their own, and she'll probably check herself."

Agent Stevens looked to Agent Hollins, who had stood silently watching the exchange. "Get started then." She looked back to Voight as he rushed away. "You've been pretty flexible with Upton for a sergeant that 'couldn't spare her' when we first met."

"I can't use her when she's agitated." He reminded the agent. "You let her get close to a witness. She got attached. Witness gets hurt, she reacts, she can't be here."

Agent Stevens nodded. "She was already attached before we asked her to maintain contact. They both got hit in that first shooting. Connected while they were both in hospital."

"That should have been discouraged."

"We needed an in with the family. Someone to convince them that the program was the best option for them." Agent Stevens frowned at the memory. "When Madison got hurt, their trust in us hit rock bottom. If John had taken the kids and gone on the run, anything could have happened."

"And you wouldn't have your witnesses."

"They could have been killed."

"Sounds like Dr. Bekker almost was." Voight mused. "Twice."

"These things happen."

"Not with the right planning and the proper execution of that plan."

"It worked out."

"You think it would have if I hadn't made sure your witness was wearing a vest?" Voight reminded her of his call. "That shot would have killed her."

"It didn't."

"Because I didn't let it."

"She's alive, sergeant. That's what matters."

Voight knew he wasn't getting anywhere, the agent seemed far too invested in capturing this guy to consider the risks the witnesses may be at. He knew he'd come close to that line himself, but he liked to think he had never crossed it. "Upton's done."

"What?"

"After the trial, Upton's done. You don't use her again."

"That's not your call."

"You don't use her again." He repeated. "Or your bosses might find out that you had a witness taken into that building before you had cleared it."

The agent stared at him for a few seconds too long, not given the chance to respond when they were interrupted.

"Hailey just called."

Voight turned away from the agent at the sound of Jay's voice. "It's done?"

Jay nodded. "Five minutes ago."

**-Ghosts-**

Connor knew something was different as soon as he stepped off of the elevator on the fourth floor. Compared to that morning, the hallway was practically deserted, and as soon as he made his way down it and pushed open the doors at the end, he realised why – there was no longer a heavy police presence.

He took a few steps forward, glancing around. It was almost eerie to hear how quiet it was following the activity of the past week, so the sign that things were calming down relieved him a little. It wasn't until he looked over to Ava's room that confusion set in.

"Georgia," He waited until the young nurse looked up before continuing. "Where's Ava?"

Her own eyes narrowed, and for a moment he wondered if she had become confused by the names, but those thoughts were gone the second she spoke.

"Dr. Evanson discharged her this afternoon. No one told you?"

He frowned. "She told me this morning that Dr. Evanson wouldn't discharge her."

The nurse shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. She was told last night it was a possibility."

"Do you know what address she was discharged to?"

"Sorry, no." Another shrug. "That cop was with her when she left, though. I think she said something about her staying with her family."

"Detective Upton?"

"Yeah, I think that was her name."

"When did they leave?"

"Hours ago."

"Thanks." He took a step back, almost sprinting towards the stairs, hurrying to the ED doctor's lounge where he had left his phone in his locker earlier that day, barely acknowledging Maggie as he moved past her.

He noticed it as soon as he opened the door. Ava's locker, that had remained locked since the day he had looked through it, was ajar, and he knew before he approached it that it would now be empty. It wasn't something she'd have been able to do by herself with much ease without the use of both arms, so he assumed that was Hailey's doing. He stared at the emptiness of it for a moment too long before pushing it closed, turning around and leaning against it, only to meet Natalie's concerned gaze.

"I didn't know you were back at work."

"I'm not." She confirmed his belief. "I was talking to Goodwin about coming back. Maggie caught me and is insisting we go out for drinks. I'm just waiting for her to finish her shift." She looked to the lockers. "Everything okay?"

He sighed. "Ava's gone."

"Isn't that good news?"

"She didn't tell me she was going."

Natalie frowned. "Why would she? You're not together any more."

He knew she was right, but it didn't do anything to dissipate the hurt. "I don't even know where she is."

"I'm sure she's fine." Natalie tried reassuring him. "That doctor, sorry I forget who was treating her, wouldn't have discharged her if she would be alone or in an unsafe environment."

"I think she's with her uncle." A pause. "And her sister."

"So she's with her family. She's okay."

He moved to sit next to her. "I just thought we were making progress. That she was about to tell me what the hell was happening these past few months."

"She still could."

"Nah." Connor decided. "I doubt she had any intention of telling me anything. She pushed some childhood sob story on me to get me to stop asking about anything else. She knew she'd be gone before I realised."

"Sob story?"

"Mom died when she was eight." He elaborated, knowing it wasn't his story to tell, but ignoring the little voice in his head telling him to stop. "Dead brother. Angry sister. That sort of thing."

"How did her mom die?"

"She didn't say."

Natalie pulled her phone out anyway. "What was her name again? I know it wasn't Ava, but I keep forgetting."

"Madison Downes."

Natalie typed the name in, frowning at the confusing array of results. "Did she say anything about where she was from?"

"New York."

She added it to the search. Her brow furrowing a headline declaring a missing family had been found before she scrolled down the page a little. "I can't find anything."

"Could be a lie."

"Did the brother and mom die at the same time?"

"Yeah, why?"

"What were their names?"

"She didn't give a name for her mom. Brother was Alex."

Natalie nodded, changing the name in the search from Madison to Alex and resuming her scrolling, this time with new results. "Here."

Connor took the phone from her, looking to the headline she had gestured towards.

_Horror smash leaves two dead, three critical_

He clicked on it, skimming quickly through the article and managing to match some of the details with what he now knew about Ava's past.

"Is that them?"

Connor nodded. "Eve Morgan-Downes, 34, and her 1-year-old son Alexander Downes were killed on impact in the deadly smash, which left her husband and two more children, aged 9 and 3, in critical condition." His face paled as he finished the article. "Police are investigating the incident as a potential murder-suicide."

Natalie reached for the phone, taking it back and returning to the results. Opening up another article. "This one says the husband," she hesitated. "Ava's dad?" Connor nodded, assuming that was the case. "It says he died a few days later."

"So it's true." He shrugged. "Still doesn't explain why she lied about being discharged."

"I don't know."

"No." Connor nodded, frustration growing at being in that same position. Then it hit him. "But I know who probably does."

**-Ghosts-**

Hailey Upton hadn't gone straight back to the precinct as she had said she would. She'd needed a moment, and she knew Voight would only send her home anyway, so she'd stopped. Parked by the side of the road and taken a moment to remind herself that it wasn't forever, that if things moved fast, it might not even be for long. That this time her friend was allowed to stay in touch with her, she just needed to be somewhere else to avoid being hounded by the media. To prevent the case ending up compromised.

She'd known though. She'd known it would be the case before the issue was even raised. Ava didn't want to go. Hailey had used the only leverage she had to convince her friend – Matthew. The little brother she hadn't seen in years needing her had proven to be the motivation Ava needed to agree to leave and lay low for a while.

Still, she'd hated asking her.

It was late by the time she arrived at the precinct, and she was hoping it would be late enough for Voight to let Jay leave with her when he inevitably told her to go home. She didn't really want to be alone that night, and with Jay she knew she wouldn't even have to ask. He'd somehow just know. He'd come to hers, they'd talk, and everything would be okay. That was how it worked.

It wasn't Jay that confronted her as soon as she stepped through the doors, though, and the unexpected intrusion was far from welcome. She was exhausted, she'd known this would happen at some point, but she had been hoping she'd have some time before it did.

"Where is she?"

"Connor..."

"Hailey."

"You know I can't tell you that."

"She's back in the program?" He guessed. "Why? If everyone involved in whatever it was is in custody."

"She's not." Hailey admitted. "Voight won't risk the program right now."

"So where is she?"

"She's safe."

"And her shoulder. You know she'll need to get that checked regularly? And she might need physio?"

"I know." Hailey confirmed. "She's okay."

"Why did no one tell me what was going on?"

Hailey stuffed her hands in her pockets, feeling her frustration at the man in front of her building. "Because it's none of your business. She is none of your business."

"Yes she is!"

"How?" Hailey demanded. "How, Connor? How is she any of your business?"

"Because she..." He cut off, realising the detective was technically right.

"Exactly."

Hailey didn't give him a chance to respond, quickly heading up the stairs before he could figure out what to say next. Hoping he'd be gone when she came back down.

**-Ghosts-**

"Are you okay?"

Ava nodded, smiling weakly at her sister. "I'm good."

"Matty's going to be so happy to see us."

"He will."

"He's going to love that Alex calls you 'Mada'"

"Probably."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." Ava sighed. "It's just difficult. It's weird. Leaving feels far more difficult this time than it did when I was moved to Maine the other week."

"Might be the pain."

"No." Ava frowned. "I think it's because things were a little more settled this time. When I left before..."

Chloe nodded. "I know. Kind of crazy."

"I guess I should be grateful that I'm not a murder suspect this time."

Chloe laughed. "You never were. Ava was."

"I am Ava, Chlo. At this point I feel like I'm more Ava than Madison."

Chloe shrugged. "I like it. Ava."

"It's close to Eve." Ava smiled. "Close to mom." She paused, giving herself a moment before changing the subject back. "What about you? You haven't said what your name was for the past few years."

Chloe bit her lip. "I guess I just never really felt like Kaycie the foster kid. I couldn't wait to be Chloe again."

"Sometimes I forget how young you were. How different it would have been for you."

"It wasn't all bad. I lucked out with my foster parents, but I missed home. I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Ava turned away, glancing out the window of the plane before over to her uncle and nephew. "And as hard as it is to be leaving Chicago, at least we're together this time."


	15. Chapter 15

The first month had been almost a blur. Between caring for Alex (or AJ, as Matty called him), her own appointments and keeping on top of her brother's care, Ava had barely had the time to even think about what might be happening in Chicago. It wasn't until they were welcoming Matthew home, and she had made real progress with her physio, that she started to feel that longing for the city she had called home for the past couple of years.

In a way she was grateful that she'd been so busy. It had given her time to reconnect with her family without constantly being concerned with keeping in touch with people she'd spent the past years with. She missed Hailey, though, and although there had been a couple of phone calls, it wasn't the same as knowing her friend was just a short drive away.

Connor had been a different issue. Even after a month, she wasn't sure how to approach that conversation, so she hadn't tried. Being too busy had been a lucky convenience, but with that changing, she still wasn't sure how to deal with the situation. She'd lied to him again, but once again because she had to. Hailey had explained it to her on the way to the airport – they didn't know who had leaked their location to the press, so they had to suspect everyone until they did. That meant not telling anyone anything.

Hailey had left her a message a couple of days earlier, letting her know that they had found out who had made that call – a new nurse at the hospital that had recognised them from missing persons flyers she'd seen in New York, but Hailey hadn't answered when Ava had tried to get back to her. She knew there was a good reason for that, Hailey always answered if she could. It didn't stop Ava from being concerned, though.

She'd been debating calling Connor most of the day, but had become very successful at talking herself out of it. After all, she'd had a little time to think since she had last seen him, and as much as they had been getting on, it hadn't taken much for her to realise that although she had started to give him the answers he needed, he hadn't really given her much in return. He had barely even acknowledged his wrongdoing, if anything he had downplayed the issues between them. If he wasn't going to make an effort, why should she?

She knew she'd have to be the one calling him to re-establish contact if it was something she wanted. It's not like he had her number any more now that she'd been given yet another new phone, but she needed time to figure everything out, and she had way too much going on to do that right now. Her time was freeing up for now, but there would likely be a trial soon. That had to be her priority.

She sighed, scrolling through her contacts anyway, glad that they had been transferred from her old phone, at least. Hailey had been serious when she'd told her that she could maintain contact with everyone once they located the source of the leak, and now they had. That didn't help her decide on who to reach out to, though.

A crash from the living room dragged her attention away from her phone, and she jumped up quickly, rushing through to the room to find her brother on the floor, one of his crutches on the ground across the room.

"What happened?" She moved to help him up, getting him back on the couch. "You're meant to be resting."

He shrugged. "Thirsty."

"Then you call me." She scolded him. "Your son needs you to rest up and heal so you can take care of him."

"But AJ loves his Auntie Mada so much!"

Chloe had been right, Matty had found the pronunciation hilarious, and had been sure to use it whenever possible since he had been told about it.

"He loves his daddy more."

"I can't believe they took him to Ella."

He'd been furious when Chloe had told him as much weeks back, he thought he'd been clearer when telling them who he wanted caring for his son. For some reason they had taken "my sister" to mean "one of my sisters", and hadn't given him the chance to confirm which sister.

"It was an easy mistake to make."

"Yeah."He agreed. "But Ella."

Ava laughed. "She's really not that bad."

"You got shot and her response was to ditch my kid on you without even visiting you in hospital."

"Technically she left him with Agent Stevens."

"That's worse." Matthew pointed out. "Seriously, she caught a flight into Chicago to ditch my kid and ignore you."

"You don't know that she caught a flight in."

"If you and Chloe were both in the area, she wouldn't have been there too." He pointed out. "They wouldn't have had three of you close to each other, she would have had to."

"Probably not." Ava sighed. She'd been trying to hide her hurt over her sister's actions from her younger siblings, but she was sure neither of them were buying it. "It's not as if she really knows me any more, though."

"I was separated from you the same amount of time she was." Matthew reminded her. "And I couldn't even walk when they told me you were hurt. I still wanted to come. I still argued with my doctor when she wouldn't transfer me."

"She's always been different though. More distant than us."

"You've been making excuses for her your whole life." Matthew brought up, and she knew he was right, this wasn't a new development when it came to Ella – she did everything for them, but resented it, and it had felt to Ava like she had just done it because she thought it was expected of her and not because she cared.

"It's what I do."

"She doesn't deserve it." He reasoned. "You could have been dying for all she knew."

"I'm sure they would have told her it wasn't serious."

"Maddie, you were shot. It was serious." His stern tone surprised her. "She just didn't care. Maybe we have to accept that she's more like dad than we've ever been willing to accept."

"Matt..."

"I know." He paused as Ava sat down next to him. "It's difficult to think about, but you were hurt while making it safe for us to go back to our lives. Uncle John and Chloe were at your side fast, and on the phone to the hospital here trying to get me there too. You told me you were terrified when you found out what had happened to me. The way things are, it looks like Ella doesn't even care."

"We don't know that, though."

"Actions speak." He decided. "Or inaction in her case."

"There could be any number of reasons that she hasn't contacted us."

"I'm just saying." Matthew sighed. "It's not exactly out of character for her."

Ava frowned, before deciding to change the subject. "What did you want to drink?"

"Beer, obviously."

"You're hilarious."

"I've changed my mind." He grinned. "I'm not glad you finished medical school any more. Maddie the doctor is no fun."

"Maddie the surgeon." She corrected. "And I just want you to take your health seriously. I only just got you back."

"I keep forgetting you're a bigshot now." He smirked. "Don't forget us like Ella did while you're out there saving lives."

"No chance of that." Ava laughed. "Even if my career wasn't completely in limbo right now."

Matthew paused for a moment. "Yeah I don't get why you'd need to limbo at work."

"That was terrible."

"I have a right to tell dad jokes now."

"Yeah, you shouldn't." Ava advised, unable to keep the smile from her face. The ease of which they had fallen into the dynamic they had always had amazed her. "Somehow they're even worse coming from you."

Matthew laughed, before his tone turned serious once again. "You still haven't heard anything?"

"My job is safe for now." Ava sighed. "I've somehow managed to find the time to email my boss every week to check in. We just can't figure out which name I'm expected to use, and how long I can be away before she starts getting pressured to replace me. When the medical leave ends she's going to put me on a leave of absence, but that can't be forever."

"The plan is still to go back to Chicago, then?"

"Yeah, when I can." Ava confirmed. "If nothing else, I signed a contract, I have to honour that commitment. It's my home now, though. It might not always be, but I feel like that's where I need to be right now, for a while at least. Besides, after everything she's done for me, I can't leave Hailey."

"I might just call her 'New Ella'" Matthew smirked once again. "Totally glad you managed to replace her. I think we'll all like the new one better."

"You're an idiot."

"Seriously," The smirk turned to a smile. "I'm glad you had someone. If I hadn't met Gemma, I'm not sure I would have coped."

"I'm sorry." Ava frowned. "That you lost her. That I never got to meet her."

Matthew nodded, looking down at his hands. "At least we can get justice now. At least AJ can grow up knowing that the man that took his mother from him is paying for what he did." He looks back up to her. "We never got that."

"Matty..." Her words caught in her throat as she considered how to continue. "How long have you known?"

"I've always suspected. With the way you hated even mentions of dad when we were growing up, and why we didn't see any of our family on his side." He admitted. "When I went off to college I requested a copy of the case file. That confirmed it. He accelerated, there was no attempt to stop. It was intentional."

"Why did you never ask?"

"I didn't want to upset you. I knew Ella would lie so there was no point in asking her."

"Does Chloe know?"

"I haven't told her." Matthew admitted. "I doubt she could have got hold of the file while we were in the program, though, so probably not. She should know. We should tell her."

"Why?"

"Isn't it better that she finds out from us, rather than reads the file for herself like I did? Or even googles mom's name?"

"The investigation wasn't conclusive." Ava reminded him of what she herself had read when she had gained access to the file. "They couldn't say exactly what happened, just that..."

"He accelerated." Her brother finished her sentence. "I know they have to consider that he may have hit the wrong pedal or whatever, but we know that's not true. He tried to kill Chloe that day. She should know."

"What good would it do?"

"Maybe none, but maybe it doesn't need to. Don't you think we've had enough lies to last a lifetime?"

She nodded, there wasn't really anything she could argue with there. "When you're stronger, though, and we tell her together."

"Deal." He paused. "I feel like I haven't checked in a while. How's your shoulder?"

Ava briefly glanced down at it. "It's good. There's still a little pain, but nothing I'm concerned about."

Matthew nodded. "Do you think we should be offended?" His expression and tone gave away the joke before his words did. "Uncle J and Chlo take AJ out, and leave the injured parties home alone."

"Hey, I could have gone." Ava reminded him. "But you're not allowed to be left alone, so someone had to stay behind. I figured it should be me, you know, in case you need emergency surgery."

Her brother nodded. "Yeah. That, and you would have missed me way too much."

"So much!" She answered, the sarcasm in her tone clear, before going back to her serious tone. "You know, other than Hailey, you, Chloe and Uncle John are pretty much the only people in the world I'm close too."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "I never really let anyone get too close. After mom, and then everything that happened, I just didn't see the point. The one time I tried..."

"You got hurt."

Ava wasn't surprised that she hadn't needed to finish the sentence. Matthew was intuitive, he always had been. "It wasn't pretty."

"You haven't really said much." Matthew pointed out. "I mean, I know you're a surgeon, that you lived in Cape Town and then Chicago, but you've barely said anything else." He paused, as if expecting her to speak, but continued when she didn't. "Chloe's told me so much. About her foster family, the school she ended up in, her friends, her boyfriends and girlfriends, but you've been a closed book since you got here."

"There's nothing to tell."

"I already know that's not true. You just said yourself, you let someone in and got hurt. If you don't want to talk about it, that's cool, but pretending it never happened..."

"I keep thinking about calling him."

"Why?" The question was instinctive. "If he hurt you?"

"We were getting on again." Ava sighed. "Things were bad, though, really bad, and everything that happened... I don't know."

"You think you can fix it?"

She shrugged, wincing at the pain that shot through her shoulder as a result. "Maybe. I just..." She hesitated. "He never apologised. He downplayed it all, and in some cases hasn't even admitted he was wrong."

"Did you ever talk about any of those things?"

"No." She knew there wasn't much point in lying. "He's only just found out about... everything. I was in hospital, I didn't want to talk about any of those things."

"Maybe that's why he didn't apologise." Matthew considered. "If he knew you didn't want it brought up."

"Maybe." She sighed. "I don't think I'll ever want to talk about those things, though, not all of them, but I still need him to admit he was wrong."

"Then tell him that."

"I don't know."

"If you're still thinking about calling him, there's got to be something keeping you feeling connected to him. I'm not saying you should forgive him, I can't, especially without knowing what he did, but you need to give yourself the chance to figure it out. You should call him."

"Maybe." She sighed. "Someday."

-**Ghosts-**

Maggie frowned, watching as Connor threw the door to the doctors lounge closed behind him. She still didn't know the significance, but earlier that day, the impending discharge of Rick Dalton, his patient from weeks before, had seemed to lift his mood slightly after weeks of him seeming down. As soon as Dalton had been driven away, heading towards the prison, the doctor had disappeared into the lounge, and she'd been watching as he spoke on the phone at length. Now his mood seemed worse than ever. Whoever he had spoken to, it didn't seem to have gone well.

"Who have I got next?"

She shook her head at his tone. She knew it wasn't personal, but she also knew he wasn't in any state to be seeing patients, and with everything she was dealing with, she didn't really have the energy to argue with him. "Who was on the phone?"

For a brief moment he seemed surprised. "Upton."

"About the prisoner transfer?"

"I thought that with him being behind bars, Ava could come back."

"So he's the guy that..." She trailed off as Connor nodded. "No wonder the place was crawling with cops when she was here."

"I figured with him gone, she'd be able to come home."

"She can't?"

"I have no idea." Connor let out a frustrated sigh. "Upton just talks in circles. I get the impression that she never actually _had _to leave, and she can come back whenever she wants."

"She just doesn't want to?"

"I don't know." He frowned. "All I'm getting is that they _recommended _that she lay low for a while, and that if Ava wants to contact anyone here, she will."

"Have you asked Dr. Charles if he's heard from her?"

"He wouldn't tell me even if he had." Connor reasoned. "Probably couldn't."

Maggie nodded. "Is this what's got you in this mood the past month? Dr. Bekker not being here?"

"There was so much we needed to talk about."

"And that's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"The way you've been recently, you are way too invested in finding someone you're no longer dating."

Another sigh. "Upton said pretty much the same thing."

"She's got a point." Maggie watched him for a moment, deciding to take pity on him by divulging the little more she knew. "She's been emailing Goodwin."

"Upton?"

"Dr. Bekker."

"What about?"

"I don't know the details." Maggie admitted. "But I doubt she'd be doing that if she didn't plan on coming back."

"Probably not."

"You want her coming back to see you in this mood?"

"She's seen worse." He looked down as he said it, and for a moment Maggie could almost see the regret. "I just hate not knowing what's going on."

"What was your patient in for?" She queried. "Prisoner transfer guy."

"All they would say is organised crime. I don't even know what to think about that."

"Could be anything."

Connor nodded in agreement. "I don't think this was the first time Ava's been seriously injured by him, either. She said something about being shot 'again' just after she woke up after surgery."

"Wouldn't you have noticed?" Maggie reminded him. "There would be a scar."

"She has a few." Connor sighed. "Never really offered any explanations."

"Always evasive." Maggie laughed. "I guess she couldn't have told the truth anyway."

"Doubt it."

"Maybe that's why she never said much." Maggie reasoned. "To limit the lies she had to tell."

"I've thought about that." Connor nodded again. "It makes a lot of sense."

"And there was you thinking she was the devil."

She noticed as the anger flared up in his eyes again, although realised instantly that it wasn't directed at her. He was angry at himself.

"You know my dad kept all CCTV from the store for two years."

"No?" Maggie didn't even try to hide her confusion at the drastic change of subject. "What's that..."

"I watched it. From that night she went to ask him to fund the Hybrid OR."

"Oh." The expression on his face was almost unreadable."

"She was flirting." Connor looked back to his hands for a brief moment before restoring eye contact. "But when he tried to take it further she backed off. He grabbed her and pinned her against the wall. He was..." The words caught in his throat "She looked terrified, and when she got away, he followed her."

"I'm sorry, Connor." Maggie softened, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. Even without everything else, seeing that would have been enough to explain his foul mood. "It couldn't have been easy seeing that."

"There was no sound." Connor continued. "But when the outside cameras picked them up he was still following her. It looked like he was screaming at her. He didn't back off until some guy in the street stepped in."

Maggie remained silent, sensing that he wasn't finished.

"When Upton told me he'd attacked her, she hadn't meant to say it, but I still tried telling myself she was just trying to make excuses, that it was easy for them to say that when he wasn't here to defend himself. I still wanted to believe him."

"That's natural."

"I knew him, Maggie." Connor reminded her. "I knew what he was capable of." He glanced back to the hybrid OR. "Hush money built that. He funded it as a way to keep her quiet."

"You don't know that."

"I do." Connor determined. "He didn't get what he wanted from her, why else would he invest?"

"It was a life saving project."

"He didn't care about that." He frowned, turning back to the nurse. "What does it say about me? That she didn't tell me. That I didn't give her the chance to tell me."

"It says that she cares for you enough to not want to hurt you."

"I believed him." Connor reminded the nurse. "She was probably so scared that I wouldn't believe her if she said anything, and I proved her right at the first opportunity."

"It's natural for you to want to believe your father."

"I never had before."

"You were trying to protect yourself."

"I knew what he was like. I should have been protecting her."

"You had no way of knowing she was going to go to him."

"If I had told her..."

Maggie frowned as he cut off. "Told her what?"

Connor sighed, lowering his voice. "If I had told her how I felt, that I wanted to stay with her, instead of using a job offer to try and run away, she'd never have gone."

"You don't know that."

"She wouldn't have needed to. If I hadn't been leaving, she wouldn't have been trying to give me a reason to stay."

"Could she not have just told you how she felt herself?"

"She did." Connor admitted. "Kind of, anyway."

Maggie raised a questioning eyebrow, and he knew she wanted further explanation.

"Before I was set to leave, there was a moment. I told her that we could have had something. She pointed out that I was the one leaving. I didn't hear it at the time, but I should have. She was saying that if I stayed we still could. I saw it in her eyes you know. When I agreed to stay for the Hybrid OR. I didn't get that at the time, either, at first I thought maybe she was hoping she'd run it. Then when I found out about the money, I figured it was because she'd taken it as proof that she'd never be enough."

"And now?"

"The same, to a point, and I can't blame her, that's exactly what happened. When I said I was staying for the Hybrid OR I may as well have been telling her as much."

"Have you spoken to her about any of this?"

He shook his head. "I should have known what he did. The second I found out he was involved I should have known."

"How?"

"Those first couple of months, between what happened and when I first found out my father was involved, she was different. Snarky is normal for her but she was snapping. She wouldn't have celebratory drinks with me when a case worked out, she called me out for being ungrateful when I wanted even more for the hybrid OR. She was emotionally distant for a time. I just thought she was mad at me, but..."

Maggie nodded in understanding. "Still, you couldn't have known."

"I'm a doctor." Connor reminded her. "I should be able to spot the signs of trauma."

"You're not a psychiatrist."

"I shouldn't need to be." He hesitated, pondering the word for a moment. "Do you think she told Dr. Charles what happened?"

"Even if she did, he can't tell you." Maggie was stern, the last thing anyone needed was Connor hassling Daniel for information he knew their colleague wasn't allowed to give. She picked up her tablet, glancing at the next name on the list. "You know that." She paused, making sure she had his attention. "Five. Now you've calmed down a little, you need to get back to work."


	16. Chapter 16

"Upton."

Hailey looked up from the report she had been finishing up, meeting the eyes of her boss as he gestured for her to come to his office. She stood, unsure as to what he wanted. Their most recent case had been surprisingly straightforward, and with Rojas settling in, their conversations about her had become increasingly rare.

"Boss?" She'd paused at the open door.

"Close the door." He instructed, and she did as she was asked before moving to sit across from him. He watched her for a moment, remaining silent just long enough to frustrate her with it before speaking again. "The indictments have been handed down. We have a trial date."

Hailey frowned. She didn't need to ask what case, she'd known it was coming, but over the past few weeks she had been trying to push it out of her mind. "When?"

"November 4th." Voight elaborated. "All charges consolidated. One trial, and as he was taken into custody here, the trial will be here."

"The witnesses?"

"The plan is to stagger their re-entry into the city. It makes it easier for them to return unseen. With Dalton in custody and his organisation disbanded, the threat has been downgraded, but there _is_ still a threat."

Hailey nodded. "When will she be back?"

"It hasn't been decided yet." Voight didn't need to ask to know who she was talking about. "She'll need to go over her testimony with the prosecution, so we're looking at late October at the latest.

"Two months." Hailey stated the time period. The same time period it had been since her friend left. "Where will she be staying?"

"That's still being confirmed." Voight answered. "With the media interest on them in particular, that won't be easy."

"They're doing well." The blonde smiled. "In Seattle. I spoke to Ava last night."

"You're calling her Ava again?"

Hailey laughed. "She said it's too weird only being called Maddie and asked if I could call her Ava for a little bit."

"It's confusing for witnesses." Voight nodded. "Is she still planning on leaving the program after the trial?"

Hailey nodded. "I think so. She wants her life back."

"She understands that's a risk?"

Another nod. "She said she's willing to accept it. That she's already had to sacrifice one life, she won't sacrifice another."

"And the rest of the family?"

"They're sticking together on this one."

Voight nodded. "If she chooses to stay here, I'm willing to protect her and her family for as long as they need."

"Thank you."

"She's your family." Voight stated what Hailey had always felt, but never really verbalised. "So she's this unit's family too. It won't be easy, though."

Hailey looked down to her hands before facing him again. "Any idea how long the trial will last?"

"They're expecting months." He answered. "A lot of charges, a lot of witnesses. You need to go over your testimony, check your reports, make sure everything is in order. Don't leave anything to chance."

"I'll go over everything again."

"Get Halstead to do the same.

"Will do."

He paused. "How's Rojas doing?"

"Pretty good." Hailey confirmed. "She seems to be getting used to being part of a team."

Voight nodded. "That was all for now."

Hailey stood, not needing to be told twice, and made her way back to her desk, meeting Jay's curious gaze as she made her way back.

"What was that about?"

"Trial date." Hailey fell into her chair, watching him. "We need to go over everything."

"I thought it would take longer."

"So did I."

"You ready for it."

"You don't need to worry." She knew he wasn't asking if she was ready as a cop. "It's been a long time coming."

"He'll know who you are, if he doesn't already."

"It'll be about time." She sighed. "I'm ready for all of this to be over."

Jay nodded. "You'll let me know if you need anything? These long term cases can be a lot."

"I will." She smiled. "I'm good though." She let out a sigh. "I wouldn't be surprised if the trial gets delayed."

"Why?"

"The FBI and NYPD are probably still arguing over who was at fault when Dalton got away the first time. They need to have the entire story straight before anything goes ahead."

"All these years and they're still trying to pick a fall guy?"

"Seem to be." Hailey shrugged. "Stevens even asked if I would go over my statement and make 'corrections'"

"She asked you to lie?"

"Not in so many words." She pointed out. "She never liked that I was clear in my statement that I wasn't there when he got away, that I was getting Chloe out of the area, so she asked me to think back to the arrangements made on the day and decide who screwed up."

"Did you do it?"

Hailey nodded. "Yeah, I went over the statement, confirmed nothing needed changing."

"Did you let Voight know?"

"No need. I handled it. If it had escalated I'd have mentioned it."

"When was this?"

"Day after Ava went to Seattle."

Jay thought back to the day in question, his frown deepening. "You weren't even working that day."

"She came to my place." She hesitated, seeing his face. "Jay, it's not a big deal, I handled it."

"What the hell was she playing at?" He continued. "If you had changed that statement and claimed anything that wasn't true, she could have torn apart this whole case."

"I know." Hailey stood, moving closer to him and placing a hand on his shoulder, leaning down slightly. "I didn't change anything. It's fine. She just wants the conviction."

"She could have blown the whole case."

"Jay..."

"You guys!" Hailey instinctively rolled her eyes at the sound of Atwater's voice. She knew exactly what was coming next. "You're not undercover any more, you don't have to make out in front of us, we know you're not dating."

"Are you going to get bored anytime soon?"

Atwater was grinning when Hailey looked up to him. "Nah." He shrugged. "You started it with the flirting."

"When were they flirting?"

"When they were..."

"We were not flirting." Hailey scowled, not wanting Rojas to be brought into this teasing. "We were playing a part."

She watched as Atwater turned to Rojas, mouthing 'they were flirting' to the newest member of the unit.

"I saw that."

**-Ghosts-**

"How'd it go?"

Ava sighed, sitting next to her uncle and resting her head on his shoulder the way she had when she was a child. "He's worried about my mobility."

"Is it serious?"

"There's still a little pain stopping me from properly raising my arm. Usually it wouldn't be a problem but..."

"This could affect your career?"

"Possibly. He's not willing to clear me for surgery, which is fine because I'm not going to be back at work for a while, I just..."

"You wish you were back at your hospital with your own doctor?"

"Kinda." Ava admitted. "It's stupid, they wouldn't do anything differently. At least there I could consult, though. I feel so useless here."

"Hey," He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a comforting hug. "There's nothing useless about you, kiddo. You've been amazing your whole life. Your mom would be so proud."

"I miss her."

"Me too." He admitted. "That'll never go away, and I'm okay with that now. She was my little sister, maybe it's not meant to go away."

"It still hurts. Every day."

He nodded. "Even worse that you've spent years unable to really talk about it, right?

"Yeah." She felt a stray tear fall. "Dr. Charles was great, but he was never who I really wanted to talk to about it."

"You know, you can talk to him about it now."

"What's the point?"

"It might help him understand."

"I've told him enough."

"You've told him the bare minimum." John pointed out. "You said so yourself, and you said yourself there's already been too many secrets between you, isn't it time to change that?"

Ava sighed. "It's not really a conversation that can be had over the phone anyway."

"We're not going to be here forever, mouse." John pointed out, taking a moment to glance down the hallway in the direction Matthew had disappeared for his own appointment. "You can always talk to him when we go back for the trial."

"What if I do that, and he uses it against me?"

"Maddie," John frowned. "He cares about you. Admittedly he hasn't been the best at showing you that, but it was clear to me that he cares for you. It's okay to be scared, but do you really want to go on with your life wondering what could have been? Take away all excuse he had not to trust you, and if he still doesn't prove himself, walk away."

"Matty said something similar."

"He's right." John decided. "Besides, who else is going to best understand your feelings over not being able to do your job?"

"Good point." Ava conceded. "He does know the job." She hesitated. "How do I move past it though? Not just what he did himself, but how do I get past knowing that he is the son of the man that..."

"How did you manage it before?"

"I didn't." It was hard to admit, but she knew she had to. "I tried not thinking about it, sometimes it was easy, but it was always there, and when he did everything that... He reminded me a lot of his father."

John's entire demeanour changed. "If he is anything like his father you forget about him caring for you and stay away from him."

"I know." She nodded. "But in most ways he's not, it's just sometimes..." She felt her uncle relax a little, his protective instincts calming as she spoke. "Sometimes he goes too far, and it scares me."

"Too far how?"

"Making reckless decisions, taking unnecessary risks. I see him do those things at work and I wonder if he'd do the same outside of work."

"Has he?"

"I guess it depends on your perspective." Ava sighed. "I need to talk to him about this, don't I. To move forward."

"Sounds like it."

"Feels like there's something else added to the long list of things I need to talk to him about every day."

"You don't need to rush it."

Ava nodded again, and they both turned at the sound of a door opening down the hallway, followed by a somewhat excited voice. "Guess who doesn't need crutches any more!"

**-Ghosts-**

The face of the little boy was haunting, yet Connor couldn't seem to stop himself from going back to the image repeatedly. The vacant eyes and subtle pout a saddening sight, what looked like a cut visible on the familiar nose. After what he'd managed to find out the past few weeks, he couldn't help but question how the injury had come about.

"Who's that?"

He jumped, quickly stuffing his cell back into his pocket before turning to Natalie. "No one."

"You know it's creepy to look at pictures of random kids, right?"

He sighed. "Alexander Downes."

Her brow furrowed in confusion, so he gave her a minute to put it together in her head.

"Ava's dead brother?"

He nodded. "I don't know how anyone could see that picture and not suspect that something was wrong in that house."

"People choose not to see a lot of things." Natalie reminded him. "That doesn't mean they don't notice." She watched him for a moment. "Have you been obsessing over this since she left?"

"Not obsessing." He denied. "I've just been reading up on what happened to her parents. One of the articles said the manner of death for them is listed as undetermined."

"Murder-suicide and they can't prove it." Natalie verbalised what had been playing in his mind for a while now. "It's tough."

"There was also an article that said the two children that weren't in the car with them witnessed everything."

"Ava?"

Connor nodded again. "She never told me she saw the whole thing."

"No wonder she's always been so closed off. That trauma..."

"I can't expect her to talk about it." He had come to the conclusion weeks before. "Not something like that. It could end up being too much for her."

"If she wants to she will."

"If she talks to me at all."

"Why wouldn't she?"

"She hasn't contacted me once."

"Have you tried contacting her?"

"She doesn't have the same number."

"Doesn't she have the same email, though?" Natalie queried. "Maggie said something about getting a few emails." She hesitated. "I think she said Ava, anyway."

"She said Ava had emailed Goodwin."

"No." Natalie shook her head. "This was definitely her."

Connor sighed. "I guess I'll ask her."

He wanted to believe Natalie was right, but he struggled to believe that Maggie wouldn't have mentioned it to him, and with the doctor's recent memory issues, she made quite a few errors these days.

"Couldn't you ask Hailey, too?"

"I have been, she's not really giving much away."

"But she knows where she is?"

"Yeah." Connor nodded. "She definitely knows, she just won't tell me anything."

"Have you asked her if she'll pass a message on for you?"

"No."

"Maybe you should."

"She'd only refuse."

"Isn't it worth asking?"

"I guess." He shrugged, already prepared to write the idea off considering how much Hailey disliked him nowadays, but then something occurred to him, and he decided it was worth taking a chance.

**-Ghosts-**

She frowned at the stack of newspapers in front of her. It had been a long time since she had left, and she knew she had to catch up on everything. She sometimes still longed for the days where she could embrace not caring, ignore the news and get back to a book, but that was many years in her past, and it wasn't where her life was any more. Now she had friends that liked to discuss every detail of every story, who had saved her newspaper after newspaper, mailing them to a PO Box for her sister to collect for her, and sent her list after list of news links since she had left.

If she wanted to be able to follow their conversations on the rare occasions they got to all spend time together (an unfortunate side effect of them all being constantly moved around to different places), she had to start reading.

It took her half an hour to find something that interested her, and she had been halfway through the article about yet another narrowly averted store closure when her husband interrupted her and her attention was taken from the papers.

"Have you seen this?"

He was holding up another paper, one she was sure would likely be in the stack in front of her somewhere, but it wasn't the front page being shown to her. "Where did you find that?"

"The Bardens."

"The Bardens are here?"

"Across the street." He moved forward, sitting beside her, the paper resting on his knees, still open on the page. "Good to have people we know here."

She nodded, her eyes trailing back to the page. She hadn't seen the image in a long time, it was different to the ones that had been on the missing persons posters years before, but she knew it all the same. She'd taken it.

"This can't be in the paper."

"It is."

"It could get them killed."

"They've probably been moved."

Her eyes skimmed over the page, taking in some of the words. "Three of them?"

He nodded. "It doesn't say which three."

She reached out, tracing the faces in the picture. "They're okay."

Her husband nodded. "They're okay."


	17. Chapter 17

_She brushed a hand over the young boy's forehead, relieved he had finally drifted to sleep. She expected it would be restless, but it was better than nothing. She took a moment to glance over to the other child in the bedroom, her own child, barely visible in the glow of the night light, before she cautiously stepped out of the room, not willing to wake either of them. The sight of the boy's tear-stained eyes was going to haunt her for the rest of her life, even if sleep did temporarily change the image._

_She'd been fighting her own tears for hours now, her chest tight, nausea overpowering her. She'd gotten up early the day before, and now, in the early morning hours, she was beginning to regret that choice. She'd, of course, had no way of knowing what would happen, but now her body was starting to fight against the sleep deprivation, screaming at her to at least try and get some form of rest. She couldn't try though, even if she wanted to, and despite her doubts that she'd be able to settle enough for sleep. That option had been snatched from her hours before._

_She slowly made her way down the stairs, pausing briefly at the bottom to wipe away the stray tear that had managed to fall. She had to be strong. It was required of her right now._

_She blinked away the rest of the tears, stepping into the living room and frowning deeply at the sight in front of her. The little girl still sat upright on the couch, staring at nothingness, still in the same position she had been in twenty minutes before. The only light was coming from a small lamp, the girl had objected when she'd tried to turn on any others, a feral scream that was unlike anything she had heard coming from the child before._

"_Maddie, honey." She moved forward, sitting down next to her. "Why don't you try and get some sleep?"_

"_Alex is dead" The eight year old stated, only turning to her after speaking. "Isn't he?" A brief pause. "And my mom, she's dead too."_

_She bit her lip. She'd chosen not to inform the children of their losses. They'd suffered enough that day, and she wasn't sure it was her place to confirm it to them. When John had called her, told her what had happened, she had rushed to the hospital, at first she'd assumed that he needed some support himself, but he'd been quick to tell her that Madison and Matthew and been hysterical, but that the doctors were happy for them to leave – and he didn't want them in a hospital where the next bad news could always be moments away._

"_A nurse said the woman and the baby died." Maddie continued, and she made a mental note to follow up on that – they shouldn't have been saying such things near the surviving children. "Will Ella and Chloe die too?"_

_Maddie didn't, she noted, question whether her father would also die. It was the only indication she had been given so far that the little girl believed what had happened was intentional. That the events of the day hadn't been the tragic accident that was being reported on the news._

"_It was my fault."_

"_No." She denied. "No sweetie, none of this is your fault."_

"_I was being loud yesterday." Maddie decided to explain herself. "Daddy said if I didn't shut up he'd take what I love away from me. I tried really hard to be quiet but I was loud again before school. It was my fault."_

"_Maddie..." She was almost at a loss for words. She'd always thought the man was a piece of work, but she'd never thought he'd use threats like that with his children. She moved off the couch, crouching in front of the eight year old and placing a hand on each of her shoulders, ensuring she was being listened to. "This was not your fault, okay. You did nothing wrong."_

**-Ghosts-**

"Nat!"

She paused at the door to the doctor's lounge, turning around just before entering the room. Connor made his way over to her, masterfully dodging the chaos of the ED. The day had barely begun and their colleagues were already dealing with the fallout of two vehicle collisions. Natalie found it a little ironic that her late arrival at work, and she assumed Connor's too, was the result of incidents that had brought patients to their door.

"Everything okay?" Connor was smiling, and from the looks on the faces of the others that had seen him, she could tell that wasn't something they had expected to see.

"I took your advice."

"Advice?"

"Last month." He shrugged. "You told me I should ask Upton to get a message to Ava for me. I was expecting a no, but she agreed."

"Oh." She didn't want to admit that her recollections of that conversation were vague at best. "That's good?"

"Yeah." He moved past her and into the lounge, so she followed, making her way to her own locker. "It took a bit of convincing, but she agreed in the end and I dropped it off with her last week."

Natalie nodded, deciding not to ask what it was that he had dropped off. It probably wasn't any of her business anyway.

He continued, seemingly not noticing her mild confusion. "If she sent it on time, it should get there today, so I'm hoping I'll hear from her soon."

"And if you don't?" Natalie queried. "Weren't you fighting?"

"Not exactly." He reminded her. "Not when she left."

"I hope you hear from her, then."

"It's the first step in getting things back to normal." He paused, remembering the issues that Natalie was having herself. "For me, anyway."

A silence fell over them as they prepared to get to work, allowing for the chaos of the ED to drift into the room and remind them of the exhausting day ahead of them, only for it to break some minutes later when Connor spoke up again.

"I spoke to Maggie, too." He decided to mention. "You were right, Ava did email her. She wouldn't tell me what about, but I think it's another good sign. She's not cutting us off, so she must want to come back."

Natalie nodded once again, not really remembering what it was that he was talking about. She assumed it must be something she had said, but it definitely wasn't anything she recalled. She was finding it easier to play along nowadays though, easier to pretend she remembered. Especially with Connor, he'd been so distracted that he didn't notice as much as he usually would have.

She'd been expecting to be recovering faster than she was. It was frustrating her that she was still having issues with her memory at all. The stress of the abduction hadn't helped, she knew that, but she had also hoped that the more detail she forgot from those days, the faster she would recover. It wasn't realistic, but she'd wanted it.

She blinked sharply and realised Connor was watching her, as if he was expecting a response to what he had said. So she figured something out. "You don't think she's cut you out?"

He smile faltered, and she instantly regretted her suggestion.

"I don't know." He admitted. "I guess we'll see."

"What if she doesn't contact you? Then you won't see."

"I guess if she never comes back I have to accept it."

"Yeah."

"You think she won't?"

"I don't know."

"I'm sure she's planning to. Why else would she be emailing Goodwin?"

"I don't know."

"If she doesn't come back..."

"Are you okay?"

He seemed a little dazed, as if he hadn't considered the possibility of her not returning before, and Natalie was really beginning to wish she hadn't said anything, that she hadn't taken away the hope he seemed to have been clinging on to. It wasn't as if she even knew anything.

The door opened, and Natalie gave up waiting for an answer to her question, instead turning to find Maggie, a look of frustration gracing her features. "I need you two out here, what's taking so long?"

Natalie turned back to Connor, confirming he was still somewhat deep in thought before turning back to the nurse. "I think I broke him?"

Maggie's expression changed in an instant, the frustration becoming mild amusement. "Not often that he's speechless. What did you do?"

"I said that Ava might not come back."

Maggie let out a laugh. "You know, she's not even here and he's more obsessed with her than ever." She moved forward, her action assuring Natalie she could handle it as the doctor left the lounge.

"Connor." Maggie stood directly in front of him, satisfied when he focused on her. "She's coming back. Wait it out by working."

He nodded, but it seemed to take a few seconds for her words to register with him. "She's coming back? Did she say that?"

"She did." Maggie confirmed. "The news report last night did, too. Did you not see the trial date? She can't testify if she isn't here."

"Trial date?"

Maggie sighed. "The sooner she's back the better. You must thrive on the competition because I don't even know what I'm looking at right now."

**-Ghosts-**

Ava let out a laugh as she walked into the living room, shaking her head at the sight of the banner above the fireplace, the cake on the coffee table. It had been so long that she'd almost forgotten.

"What's this?"

Chloe spun around, turning away from the window. "Happy Birthday!" She sprinted forward, and Ava accepted the hug.

"This wasn't necessary."

"Yes it was." Chloe insisted, breaking the hug. "We haven't been able to do this in years."

"Where are the others?"

Chloe smiled secretively. "Picking up your present."

"You didn't have to get me anything."

"Yes we did." Chloe grinned knowingly. "It's gonna be great."

"And it takes all three of them to get it?"

Chloe laughed. "Not exactly. Matty wanted to go, and Alex was being clingy this morning."

"Is he okay?"

Chloe shrugged. "Probably."

"Probably?"

"Didn't seem sick or anything."

"You're sure?"

"He's fine." Chloe insisted, sitting and pulling her sister down beside her. "You need to relax and enjoy your time off work."

"I'm a surgeon, Chlo, we're always working, even when we're not on the clock."

"Sounds boring."

"It's not to me."

Chloe paused, falling silent for a moment, as if she was considering her next words carefully. "Do you think Ella finished med school too?"

"I guess so." Ava answered. She'd asked herself the same question over the past years. "At least I hope so."

"Do you ever wonder why you both ended up in med school and Matty and I didn't?"

"Not really." Ava admitted. "I always knew I wanted to help people, and Ella was always driven, it just kind of fit." She sighed. "It was something mom always talked about, too. She was joking, but we always heard."

"So you're a surgeon because of mom?"

Ava shook her head, trying to find the words to explain the complicated situation. She'd never really thought much about it before. "I love my job. There's nothing I'd rather be doing. I'd be lying if I said mom wasn't the reason I looked into it in the first place, but she's not why I stuck with it. She'd never have wanted any of us in a job we hated."

"That makes sense."

"I think if you'd heard the way mom talked about it, you'd have wanted to go to med school too."

"I thought about it." Chloe admitted. "But with everything that happened it seemed unattainable."

Ava nodded, wishing she had more understanding that she did. Despite how open Chloe had been, she'd never really know what her sister had gone through over the past few years. "If you wanted to, you still could."

"Nah." Chloe shrugged. "Not my thing. I think I only thought about it because I hoped it'd mean bumping into you somewhere."

"You need to figure things out for yourself."

"Yeah." Chloe agreed. "It hasn't exactly been easy." She paused. "Not that it was for you."

"None of us have had it easy."

Chloe sighed, before forcing a smile. "Anyway, it's your birthday, we can talk about this another time."

Ava frowned, knowing that was unlikely. As open as Chloe had been, she'd been shying away from any real depth. She'd focused on the good and acted like there had been no bad, but Ava knew better. She knew her sister. There was something more going on.

"You know," Ava tried. "We haven't talked about Blake yet."

"We don't need to."

"Chlo." Ava raised an eyebrow. "The guy killed someone out of loyalty to you. We can't not talk about that."

"You won't like what I have to say."

Ava felt her heart drop, fear rising in her. "Try me."

"Why bring it up?"

"Chloe..."

Chloe let out a groan of frustration. "He was all I had." Her irritation was obvious in her tone, and Ava was initially taken aback by it. "And he would have done anything for me. I didn't even have to ask."

Ava was about to continue the conversation when she heard the front door open, and she instinctively stood up, moving towards the entrance to the living room to look towards it. She couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face at the sight in front of her, and she darted forward, accepting her second hug of the day.

"Hailey!"

"Happy birthday!"

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Then it wouldn't have been a surprise."

The two women pulled back, taking each other in for the first time in months.

"I really didn't need a surprise."

Hailey laughed, before glancing around the entryway of the house. "This is pretty nice."

Ava nodded. "It's not home, though."

They both turned to the door as John stepped in, carrying what Ava could only assume was her friend's luggage. He dropped it by the door, smiling at his niece. "Happy birthday, mouse."

"I'm hearing that a lot."

"And you're going to keep hearing it." His smile didn't falter. "We have big plans for today."

"I'm not really a go big kind of person." She gestured towards Hailey. "This is enough."

"Sorry," He shrugged. "Morgan family movie day is not optional. Chloe wants to watch The Wizard of Oz."

"I didn't see Chloe as someone that watches musicals." Hailey mused, shooting Ava a questioning look.

"It was Eve's favourite." John explained. "Used to watch it with the kids all the time. After she died I continued the tradition. Wanted them to have something to connect to their mom with."

Ava smiled at the memory. It saddened her that Matty and Chloe were both too young to have many memories of those movie days with their mother, the ones that had always started in Oz. As much as she liked them having the connection, it wasn't the same as remembering like she got to.

"She loved the music." She gave a soft smile. "She was always singing."

"You were always making her sing." John reminded her. "Some days it seemed to be all you ever wanted."

"It was." Ava paused. "Some days it still is." They fell silent, and she immediately decided the silence needed to be broken. "Where are Matty and AJ?"

John sighed, shaking his head in amusement. "Your nephew has decided he's not getting out of the car. He's a stubborn kid."

Ava nodded, turning to Hailey. "Tell me you're staying."

"Just for a couple of days." Hailey smiled. "I don't think Voight would have agreed to the time off for any reason other than you."

Ava let out a laugh of disbelief. "I barely even know the guy."

"I think he knows all he needs to about you." The detective shrugged. "After everything that happened."

Ava moved forward, grasping Hailey's luggage before her uncle could stop her, sure to use her right arm to avoid being lectured by everyone. "If AJ's playing up, we should have a bit of time."

She gestured for Hailey to follow her up the stairs, but didn't turn to face her again until she had placed Hailey's luggage down at the foot of her bed, at which point her friend had closed the door behind them.

"First things first." Hailey started. "Your uncle calls you 'mouse'?"

Ava nodded. "Since I was little, why?"

"You know Jay has a friend that goes by mouse?"

"What?"

"It's the weirdest coincidence."

"I've kind of started to expect coincidences." Ava shrugged. "My scrub nurse at Med, her name's Beth, same as my aunt. Then there's the whole Eve/Ava thing. Ethan was the name of my neighbour in New York. One of the firefighters that I've seen at the hospital a few times is called Matt. There's been so many connections to my old life over the years that I expect them."

"That's strange."

"It's almost like fate didn't want me to forget."

"Makes sense." Hailey decided. "There's something else."

Ava looked at her friend curiously, and Hailey moved forward, rummaging through one of her bags for something before standing up and facing her friend.

"I figured it'd be best if I gave you this when we were alone."

Ava frowned, taking the item from Hailey's hand and shooting her a questioning gaze, not understanding why it would be such a secret. "A birthday card?"

"You should open it." Hailey sighed. "I considered not giving it to you but it's not my decision to make."

Ava's frown deepened, and she flipped over the item in her hand, looking at the front of the envelope. Her breath caught in her throat. She knew that handwriting, it'd be impossible for her not to. In the past she'd spent hours going over surgical notes written in that handwriting.

Connor.

She looked up again to see the detective biting her lip. "Did you want me to leave you for a bit?"

Ava shook her head. She had to admit that she wasn't really sure what she wanted. She hadn't expected him to even know when her real birthday was, let alone thought he would go to the effort to get something to her. Whatever this was.

What did it even mean? Why would he send it? Sure, they'd been getting on, but that didn't really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. It didn't change what had happened between them, all the hurt and pain that would always be there.

She remained focused on the familiar writing, tracing the letters with her eyes. She hadn't seen it in a while, and some strange part of her, she realised, had missed it. It was never something that would be easy to explain.

"When did he give you this?"

"Um.." Hailey started. "Last week. He wanted me to tell you he understands. Didn't elaborate on that."

Ava nodded, looking up from the envelope once again and meeting her friends eyes, about to question her further.

On seeing Hailey's face, she pushed all thoughts of the card and it's sender from her mind, realising that something else was bothering her friend.

"What is it?"

Hailey sighed, sitting down on the bed. "I can't go into it too much." She glanced up. "But you told me that Dalton went after your family over some borrowed money?"

Ava nodded. "Yes. Uncle John thought he needed to be open about it."

"Right."

"What is it?"

Hailey frowned, and Ava could tell she really didn't want to say what she knew had to come next.

"I don't even know how to say this."

"Getting it over with is usually the best way."

"There was no borrowed money. He's lying to you."


	18. Chapter 18

Ava frowned as she pulled her suitcase through the door of the rented house, somewhat glad it was temporary. The Seattle house had been an anomaly, it seemed. As spacious as it had been, this one was the opposite, small and cramped. It'd be a squeeze for the five of them, but they'd make it work. It wasn't as if they had a choice.

It had been five weeks. Five weeks and she still hadn't found an opportunity to question her uncle on his lies, to find out what had really been going on all those years ago. She didn't want to bring Matty and Chloe into it unless she absolutely had to, and she couldn't know if she needed to do that if she didn't know what was going on herself. After Hailey's visit, it had seemed that one of them had always been with her, so a chance to confront her uncle just hadn't arisen.

Now though, as she stepped through the house, she knew the opportunity was upon them. Both of her siblings had gone straight to unpacking when they had arrived. Ava had taken her time, wanting to enjoy the Chicago atmosphere for as long as she could, and some twenty minutes had passed before she finally made her way into the house, finding her uncle sitting alone on the couch, obviously having chosen to read instead of unpacking himself.

"Uncle John?" She called out to him before she had the chance to change her mind. Closing the door behind her and leaving her suitcase behind as she approached him. "I need to talk to you."

He looked up at her, curiosity in his gaze, and moved his book aside. She knew that somehow he would know exactly where he was when he went back to it later.

"What is it, kiddo?"

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"With Rick." She sighed, biting her lip softly before sitting down next to him. "You didn't borrow any money, did you?"

He looked down for a moment, the look on his face told her he had been expecting this day to come, but he wasn't angry. If anything he seemed relieved.

"No. I didn't borrow any money."

"Then why did you say you did?"

"It was an easier explanation than the real one."

"Uncle John."

"You have to understand, there are certain things I never wanted to have to tell you. I've always suspected that I would have to, but I've never wanted to."

"Like what?"

He frowned, his shoulders sagging. "I feel like it's not really my story to tell."

"How isn't it?"

"Because it wasn't about me as such."

"It was you that he said owed him money."

John nodded. "Yes, but not because I borrowed any, it was something else."

"What?" Ava queried. "Why didn't you tell the truth?"

"Because you didn't need to know that he was blackmailing me."

She froze for a moment, unsure how to react to the revelation. She couldn't think of anything that Rick could have used. Sure, they'd been friends for a long time, since before she herself was born, but John had always been one of those people that did everything right, that never had enemies. She couldn't imagine a world where someone would have something to use against him.

"How?"

He didn't answer, and his silence left her searching her mind for an answer she wasn't sure how to find. The most contentious thing in his life had been the custody battle that had followed her mother's death. When her father's parents had tried to overrule Eve's wishes, insisting that their son would want his children to be with them. She'd always scoffed at that claim – he'd left no evidence of this, if anything, the only indication he had given as to what he wanted for them had been that he wanted them dead.

That had been a long time ago, and she was sure he hadn't had to play dirty to keep them safe. Eve's wishes had been clear, and he'd had a solid support system of both family and friends behind him.

"Uncle John, how?"

He looked down again. "It's not my story to tell."

"Really?" Ava rolled her eyes. "I don't see whose else it could be."

When he looked up at her again she noticed there were unshed tears in his eyes. "It's Ella's."

"Ella?"

She could tell he really didn't want to continue, but knew that he would in some form, even if it required her putting the dots together herself.

"Chloe was very sick. After the crash."

"I know."

"Ella," he paused. "You need to promise me that you won't let this change anything."

"You know I can't do that."

He nodded in acceptance. "Ella was only considered critical for about 12 hours. I never really understood what the doctors were telling me, I guess you would." Another hesitation. "By the 48 hour mark, if it wasn't for the broken ankle and the cuts and bruises, you wouldn't have known anything had happened. She was so good at hiding those broken ribs."

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"I need you to remember that she was only nine." His tone was serious, concerned. "She was scared and confused. She was in pain. She was just a little girl."

"What happened?"

"I went to check on Chloe, I had a feeling something was wrong. I thought Ella was asleep. I don't even know how she managed to get herself into that wheelchair, but she did, and the nurses on the night shift, they just didn't care. She found him."

"Found who?"

His eyes closed briefly. "Your father."

"She went to see him?"

John nodded. "He'd been conscious. I hadn't known that. They hadn't told me, but when she found him he was alone. I'd wanted him arrested but they said they didn't have enough evidence."

"Did he do something to her?"

John shook his head. "But he said something to her. I don't know what. She never told me. When I got there she..."

He trailed off, his eyes pleading with her to let him stop talking, but she urged him to continue. "She what?"

"He had this tube or something in his arm." John turned away again. "When I got there she was pulling it out." He threw his head back, staring at the ceiling. "I wanted to let her, but I knew your mom would never forgive me, so I pulled the chair back, that didn't stop it coming out." Another hesitation. "I called a nurse, told her it had got caught on the wheelchair when she had got too close. I don't think she believed me, but she never reported it."

"She tried to kill him?"

"She thought she did." John shrugged. "He died later that day."

"How long after?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "No one came and told me, I didn't find out until your social worker came to see me."

"Depending on how soon he died." Ava stated. "She could have."

"She trusted Rick." John frowned. "And she was so angry all the time, especially with me, he volunteered to try talking to her. I didn't know she'd tell him, but she did."

"And he used it against you."

"He used it to get me to hide his dirty money." John admitted. "Only Chloe found it. You know how she was back then. Rebelling against anyone and everyone that told her anything. To her credit she did ask me about it first, but I guess when I told her it was Rick's she didn't see a threat. And why would she, she'd known him almost her whole life. I didn't realise she was taking it until half of it was gone."

"Why'd you say you borrowed it?"

"I didn't want Ella to know what had really happened." He explained. "I had to lie, she's always been so fragile, she wouldn't have coped."

"But you told the police the truth?"

He nodded. "That he had blackmailed me. They didn't even seem interested in what Ella had done, but they gave me immunity and agreed to protect us all if I testified."

Ava sighed. "And then Dalton got the rest of us involved." She refused to call him Rick. Rick was a family friend, and he wasn't that any longer. "Why would he do that?"

"I think he wanted Ella to be the one to go and get Chloe from him. That he wanted to taunt her, tell her it was her fault."

"And I went instead."

He nodded. "I wish I had known who he was. Or at least who he became when we weren't in contact. So I'd have known to walk away. So he'd have never been around any of you."

"Would have helped."

"It would have done more than helped. I should have figured him out sooner."

Ava sighed. "How much does Chloe know?"

"She knows the money was never borrowed. I'm not sure if she knows anything else."

Ava let out a sigh, feeling a familiar sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Do you think the thing in the hospital is why Ella was always so angry?"

**-Ghosts-**

Connor stumbled into Molly's, intent on drinking the hard day away. It had been a long one, what had started as a minor school fire had spread quickly, and the majority of his day had been a succession of burns, crush injuries and an ED full of obnoxious teens creating unnecessary chaos and demanding updates they weren't allowed to be given.

It almost seemed as though the world was conspiring against him, intent on making his bad mood worse, and he decided there was no harm in drowning his sorrows every once in a while, even if he had to do so alone until Will decided to show up.

He spotted Upton across the bar, Jay by her side as he usually was, and sighed. Will would likely want to join them at some point, he seemed to have become closer to his brother recently. It wasn't a bad thing, but Connor didn't really feel like a group social situation.

He was half way through his second drink, having been putting more effort than usual in avoiding those in the bar that he knew, when he heard a familiar laugh. It was so quiet that he almost thought he had imagined it, but when it was followed up by a louder "Calm down, it wasn't that funny." he knew it hadn't been in his head.

He turned instinctively at the words, freezing when his eyes confirmed what he had heard. Ava. She hadn't noticed him. Her hand was resting on the shoulder of an unfamiliar man, and he had to force down the pang of jealousy he felt. It wasn't as if he had a right to it, he'd made sure of that.

Turning away, he decided not to approach, it would only be awkward. The card he'd sent her had gained no response, and as much as he wanted to know why, he didn't want to ruin her fun.

"You know," It was around half an hour later that he heard Stella's voice, and looked up assuming he would find her watching him, about to comment on his still being at the bar with that same second drink, but it wasn't him she was looking at. "I'm not sure I like you."

"You're gonna love me."

Connor only just managed to resist rolling his eyes at the arrogance. This was the sort of person Ava was around now?

"You've had one drink all night and have been asking for water ever since. You're gonna put us out of business."

The man laughed. "At least you have firefighting to fall back on." He glanced back to the group, and his smile didn't falter, Connor noticed, until he looked back to the bar. "Didn't really want to come out tonight, but my sister was in a weird mood, didn't think her going off alone was a good idea."

Sister?

"Yeah, she looks like she's in trouble." Stella nodded. "All those cops around her."

"They're drinking." The man pointed out. "I thought at least one of them wouldn't, seeing as we, Maddie especially, aren't even meant to be here."

"Maddie?" Stella looked confused, glancing over to the group.

"You probably know her as Ava."

"Matty!"

Connor tensed at the voice. While following the conversation, he hadn't considered that the woman herself would approach.

"I might have to cut you off."

"I've only had two!"

Connor couldn't help but smirk, letting out a quiet laugh, but it seemed to be loud enough for them to hear.

"Can I help you?"

Connor sighed, turning slightly and resting an arm on the bar, meeting Ava's eyes for the first time in months. "I'm good."

She remained focused on him as he answered Matty's question, and he knew instantly that she wasn't as drunk as the man had suggested.

"Connor."

"Hey."

"You're Connor?"

Connor finally turned, locking eyes with the younger man. He saw it now, the messy blonde hair, the mouth, the ears. Definitely Ava's brother. He decided not to verbally respond, opting only to nod.

"Gotta say, I've been given some conflicting reports about you. I'm not sure whether to shake your hand or punch you."

"Matty..."

"Obviously I'm not actually going to punch him."

Connor barely registered what he was saying, his gaze had returned to Ava, and she was yet to break the contact, even when she had scolded her brother. They stayed there for a moment, taking each other in, and Connor had just been about to break the silence when she beat him to it.

"We should talk."

"Yeah." He responded quickly, not wanting her to change her mind. "We should."

She nodded, stepping towards the doorway of the bar before her brother once again intervened.

"Where are you going?"

"Just outside."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Ava rolled her eyes, turning back to him. "He's not out there, Matty."

"You promised Hailey that if she brought us here you wouldn't take risks."

Connor watched as the blonde sighed, noticed her eyes moving to her friend for a brief moment.

"I can take care of her."

Ava looked back to him as he spoke, brow furrowed. "I can take care of myself."

"You've been shot twice." Matty reminded her. "Literally shot."

"I recovered."

"What if you don't next time?"

"There's not going to be a next time."

Connor could see the understanding in her eyes, but he knew the stubborness he had always known her to have was winning out. She wasn't going to back down.

"What if..."

"I'll be fine."

Matty let out a sigh. "Five minutes. That's all I can buy you anyway, without Hailey realising you're not here."

She nodded, and Connor followed close behind her as she stepped out the door, leaning against the wall in the cold night air.

"Conflicting reports?"

He'd decided to try and lighten the mood.

Ava frowned, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. "Chloe really doesn't like you."

"Ah." He paused, finding himself slightly relieved that she hadn't been the source of the less than desirable reports. Still, he was unsure of how to proceed and beginning to wish he hadn't had that second drink. "I wasn't sure you'd still want to talk."

"Why?" Her head tilted slightly as she spoke. He wondered if she was aware that she did that sometimes.

"When you didn't respond to the card, I..."

Her eyes widened at the mention. "Oh."

She had seemed more surprised than anything.

"Oh?"

"I forgot." She shrugged sheepishly. "I was going to, but I wanted to wait until Hailey wasn't around. It was an intense couple of days, by the time she left, I had a lot on my mind. I guess I spaced."

He nodded. That made sense.

"Connor..." She hesitated for a moment when he didn't respond. "I didn't leave to get away from you."

"I know." He admitted. "I get it. You had to go." He paused. "How've you been?"

There was so much more he wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure how far to push her.

"Good."

He could tell that wasn't the whole truth.

"Good?"

She sighed. "There are still some concerns with my shoulder."

"How bad?"

"I don't know for sure. I'm hoping to check in with Dr. Evanson next week."

"Sounds like a plan."

"He's serious, you know."

"What?"

"Matty." Ava elaborated. "If I don't go back in there, Hailey will notice I'm gone, and he won't be able to cover."

"She's protective?"

"She's not what we need to talk about."

He nodded, sensing her slight frustration at what was essentially small talk. "I'm sorry."

"I know that was abrupt but we don't have long and..."

"No." Connor interrupted, realising she hadn't interpreted the words the way he had meant them. "I'm sorry. For not believing you. For the things I said. The accusations. For everything."

She remained silent for a moment, eventually nodding. "I was distracted."

"What?"

"In the OR." She gave a small grimace. "Hailey called that morning. Told me I might have been compromised. It was a false alarm that day but... I should never have been in the OR."

He nodded. He'd assumed, but he had to admit it was nice to have the confirmation. "I shouldn't have assumed you'd..."

"You shouldn't have." She agreed, turning away to gaze across the street. "But I shouldn't have made out that it was your fault, either. I knew you felt bad about it and..."

"And?"

She let out a sigh. "I wanted to hurt you. I hated that I wanted to, but I did."

"I get that."

She didn't answer, opting to watch the cars as they passed. For the first time he noticed the slight fear in her eyes as they did, the anxiety in a gaze that wasn't leaving each vehicle until it had safely passed them – and for the first time he realised it was something she had been doing since they left the bar. She'd tensed as soon as they had stepped outside, and he had assumed it was the cold evening air. Now he wasn't so sure.

"Are you okay?"

She looked back to him, giving an unconvincing nod. "It's just strange being back here."

"It's more than that."

She didn't answer straight away, jumping at the sound of a shout somewhere down the street. He watched as she calmed herself, but noticed the lip bite.

"I was shot in New York, and when I left the city, I never went back. So coming back here after the same thing happened, it's weird."

"You didn't want to come back?"

"I did." She was quick to confirm. "It's still strange, though. It feels different."

"Things will go back to normal. When things have calmed down and you're back at work."

She nodded. "That might be a while."

"Why?"

"I haven't been cleared for surgery." He could hear the disappointment in her voice. "And even if I had, the trial is weeks away, and I don't know when I'll be called to testify. I can't be at work until that's done."

"Are you worried?"

She took a moment to think about it. "A little. I've spent the past few months trying not to think about it, but that was easier to do when it was just Maddie's story and I wasn't her any more. Now it's Ava's too."

He couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Sorry."

"What's funny?"

"You. Still talking about yourself as if you're two different people."

"I've spent the summer realising that that's exactly what I am." She forced a weak smile. "The more I let Maddie back in, the more Ava slips away."

"Nah." He disagreed. "You've always been both. You just don't like people seeing both sides."

She hesitated before taking a step away from the wall. "I'd better get back."

He nodded, placing a hand on her back and guiding her to the door, pausing just before opening it. "We'll talk more another time?"

It took a brief moment, but she nodded, and with that, he pushed open the door and they made their way back inside.


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry for how late this is. It's been a busy couple of months.**

* * *

"Take it slowly."

Ava sighed, her arm outstretched as she slowly lifted it, instinctively stopping just before she reached the point she knew it would begin to hurt and lock. "About there."

Dr. Evanson frowned, focusing on her hand for a moment before moving to examine her shoulder, his hands gliding over the muscles. "There's nothing concerning in the scans, and the wound seems to have healed well. I want you to try and raise your arm a little higher. Slowly."

She did as he asked, continuing to lift her arm, but at a slower pace than she had been before, her eyes trained on her hand, trembling slightly, anticipating the pain she had become accustomed to feeling whenever she attempted the action.

"Any pain."

"No." She shook her head, continuing to raise her arm, past the point she had been able to without issues even the week before, and began to smile as watching her hand began to require looking up. Then, without warning, and when the limb was almost fully extended upwards, it was almost as if she hit a wall, and a jolt of pain ran down it, causing her to instinctively pull it back down, clutching it to her chest. "Yes."

The other doctor's frown didn't falter. "It's an improvement on the last time you attempted the action?"

"Yeah."

"It seems to be healing somewhat slowly." He concluded. "What exercises have you been doing at home the past few months?"

"The usual." Ava elaborated. "Pendulum, finger walk, a lot of stretches."

"How often?"

"About three hours a day."

"That's what they recommended?"

"They wanted me to start a little slower, but I didn't really have much else to do."

"You may have overdone it." He commented. "Give it a little more time, rest the shoulder a little more. Avoid unnecessary strain. Continue the exercises, but no more than an hour to ninety minutes a day. You're no longer taking the pain medication?"

She nodded. "After finishing the prescription."

"And you're managing pain without it?"

"Yeah, just aspirin and breathing exercises when needed."

"Good." He paused, writing something on the notes in front of him before turning back to her. "I think that's all for today." He stood, making his way to the door, pausing once his hand was on the handle. "The bad news is, I'm still not comfortable with clearing you for surgery. The good news is, I can clear you for work, light duty only."

"Really?" Ava didn't even try to suppress her smile, she'd given up on maintaining the reputation she had always had. "I can work?"

"As long as you don't take on too much."

He opened the door, meeting Goodwin's eyes from across the corridor. From her position behind him, Ava could see the question in the older woman's expression.

"Well?"

"Yes."

Ava stepped forward, moving past him and entering the corridor just in time to see Goodwin's expression change, a faint smile appearing on her face as their eyes met. "So you'll be returning."

Ava nodded. "As soon as I've testified, probably."

"Not before?"

"Kind of difficult to commit when I don't know when I'll be in court." Ava explained. "And I can't really do much without checking with Voight or Agent Stevens first, nowadays."

"I'm sure that's a cause for frustration."

"I've got used to it." She glanced over at Atwater, leaning against the door watching her closely. "It's not as if there's no reason for it."

She started to walk, Goodwin in step with her, knowing that the officer would follow close behind.

"Do you get an armed escort whenever you leave the place you're staying?"

"Not every time, but when we're going anywhere any of us have regularly gone before, it's mandatory." Ava frowned, there was no use pretending she liked the situation she found herself in. "I can't say I'm happy about it. They've got real cases, and it's kind of like babysitting."

"Hey," Atwater interrupted as they stepped onto the elevator. "I like protection detail. It's not usually our job so it's not something I get to do that often. Not gonna lie to you, do I wish you were some high profile diplomat instead? Yeah, but I'll take it."

Ava laughed, leaning against the back wall as the elevator began to move downwards. "I feel very safe in your hands."

"You should. I did take that Dalton guy down single handedly."

"Weird." The blonde grinned. "I could have sworn Burgess was there."

"She was my backup."

"Right." Ava gave a slow nod before shaking her head in amusement. "Of course."

"You've been spending a lot of time together?"

Ava nodded, not surprised that Goodwin had noticed the ease at which they talked. "Just the past week whenever I have to go out. Voight found out that Hailey took me to Molly's my first night back in town, so he's not letting her get involved right now."

"I told her you prefer me now, so it's all good." The elevator stopped and he stepped forward, motioning to her to stay behind him with a hand. He took a step out of the elevator, looking around. "Okay, all good."

"Who are you expecting to see?"

Atwater looked to Goodwin. "She always been this difficult?"

"Much worse."

The older woman turned as she stepped out of the elevator, giving a slight nod to Ava before heading down the hallway. Following Atwater, Ava moved forward towards the ED. They hadn't entered that way, she'd known if she had tried she might have ended up late to her appointment, but Voight had asked the officer to check on the status of a victim while he was here, and the quickest way to get that answer was to ask Maggie. Ava wondered if he knew that the detour might cause a significant delay to their leaving the hospital.

She took a moment to glance around herself, smiling at the sight of all the familiar faces, all of them oblivious to her presence as they went about their jobs. There was one person she didn't see, though, and she was willing to admit to herself that she was a little disappointed. Things with Connor were complicated to say the least, but they were making slow progress. Progress that she knew was helping her when it came to her attempts to merge her two vastly different lives.

"Maggie."

"Kevin Atwater." The nurse greeted in response, smiling warmly over the detective's shoulder at the blonde for a brief moment before focusing on him.

"I'm looking for an update on Aston Hawkins."

Ava had pulled out her cell, deciding to allow them the small amount of privacy she could – it wasn't as if she could step away, her only option was diverting her focus elsewhere, even if it meant scrolling through the numerous pictures of her nephew she had taken over the past months.

She jumped at the feel of a hand on her back, turning quickly to see Connor looking down at her, a small smile on his face, catching Atwater glance around out of the corner of her eye as she did so.

"Sorry, didn't think."

She nodded. "It's okay."

The words had been aimed at both men, and Atwater turned back to Maggie as soon as they were out.

"You're here for your appointment?"

"Just finished up." She couldn't help but be aware of his hand, remaining stationary on her back as they spoke. "Heading out in a second."

He glanced momentarily at Atwater. "You've been hanging out with Hailey's colleagues?"

Something about the way he said it made her frown. "Not exactly hanging out."

He nodded, pausing for a moment before changing the subject. "It's good to see you."

She gave a brief smile. "You too."

"So how'd it go?" He queried. "With Dr. Evanson."

"Fine." She cut off, considering her words before giving the details she knew he most likely expected. "It's healing. I've been overdoing it a little."

"When will you be back at work?"

"Month or so." She shrugged, debating whether or not to mention that she had already been cleared to return, even if not at fully. "Need to get the trial out of the way."

"Are you worried about that?" His finger started to draw circles on her back, and she wished she wasn't finding it as soothing as she was.

"Not really. I just want it over with." She sighed. "The unknowns worry me more than the trial itself."

"Unknowns?"

"Will Ella be there?" She voiced what she had been wondering since they had first been given the date. "What about everyone else? I have relatives in New York that know why we disappeared, will they show up?"

"Do you want them to?"

"Depends which ones."

He nodded. "Won't Ella be testifying?"

"I'm not sure." Ava admitted. "I don't think so. She was never directly harmed by him, and it might be better if she didn't."

"Why?"

"There's some stuff that could come out." She turned away briefly. "It doesn't matter, it's not my secret to tell."

"That sounds ominous." He paused. "Look, I'm about to go for lunch, how about you join me?"

"No can do." They both looked to Atwater as he spoke. "I have to get her back before I head back to the precinct."

Ava frowned. "You're not taking Matty to his checkup?"

"Kim's got that." Atwater explained. "Boss doesn't want any of us out of the loop with the case for too long."

Ava nodded, looking back to Connor. "Security's high right now. They want to make sure we actually make it to the trial."

The doctor looked to the other man. "She's in danger?"

"Not taking chances."

Ava looked past him, having heard the words multiple times since she had returned to the city, meeting Maggie's eyes over his shoulder and smiling.

The nurse responded with yet another warm smile of her own, stepping out and approaching the trio, not gaining the attention of the men until she was next to them.

"How long have you been back in town?"

"About a week."

"A week." Maggie glanced over to Connor, a knowing, somewhat amused, look on her face. "Yeah, that figures."

"How?"

Maggie ignored the question. "A week and this is the first I'm seeing you?"

"I'm not exactly getting out much."

"When will that be changing?"

Ava looked up to Atwater, who answered the question for her. "Depends on the trials."

It was a harsh truth, but one she had come to accept. It wasn't just Dalton on trial, and although the lack of loyalty towards him had been plain to see in the vast amount of plea deals that had been made since his arrest, there were two that had refused to turn on him. They needed those verdicts to go their way too, and if they didn't, they'd all agreed to stay in the program. To vanish again.

It was another reason for her reluctance to return to work. It had been difficult to leave last time, when her life in Chicago had all but collapsed around her and she'd had very little to stay for. How would she possibly be able to willingly walk away if she had inexplicably managed to rebuild it? It'd just be easier if she didn't. Easier if she didn't put herself into a position where she had to choose between the life she had built for herself and the safety of her family. It wasn't the easy choice it had always seemed like it should be.

"Are we good to go?"

As soon as she had got the words out she felt the hand on her back still, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt, knowing she had likely just given the impression that she was eager to leave, and that Connor had read into the words. She couldn't exactly deny it, though. She did want to leave.

"Yeah, I got what I need."

She nodded, stepping forward, only to turn back as her hand was grasped. Her eyes met Connor's, and she stared for a moment, noting the unasked questions in his gaze. Without words, she nodded, and he squeezed her hand before gently releasing it, enabling her to walk away.

**-Ghosts-**

Hailey Upton was exhausted. They'd barely had a break between cases recently, and between those and the seemingly constant meetings with the prosecutor, it seemed she barely had any down time, and since Voight had pulled her off of protection detail, it was down time that she was eager to find – it was the only time she would be able to visit her friend.

"Hawkins is out of surgery. Not conscious yet." She updated her boss with the information Atwater had just relayed to her over the phone. "Atwater's on his way back."

Voight nodded, looking past her to where Kim was sitting at her desk. "You still covering that appointment at the hospital later?"

"Yes."

"Check again when you're there. If he's awake, take his statement." He frowned, pausing for a moment. "See if Trudy can get you someone from patrol to meet you there, so our witness doesn't have to wait for you."

"I can go."

"I need you here." He didn't even consider her offer. "I want to know every detail about this Landon kid, bank details, friends, acquaintances. Hell, I want to know what this guy's favourite class was in third grade."

Hailey sighed. It had been worth a try, even though she knew he'd never have gone for it. She really shouldn't have given in to her friend's request, but Ava had seemed stressed, she'd needed that night out, so it was difficult to regret the choice.

She turned, knowing better than to question her boss, despite being aware that the only reason he was demanding so much information on a suspect they had in custody and could already prove was guilty was to keep her busy, and headed towards the break room, letting out a groan as she entered.

"She's fine, you know."

Hailey glanced up at Jay, then moved forward to pour herself some coffee. "I know," She hesitated, turning, mug in hand, to lean back against the counter. " and I'm glad Voight's let you stay on protection detail, even though you were there too."

Jay shrugged. "Guess he's not worried about me right now."

She frowned, reading between the lines. "Why would he be worried about me?"

"Case is personal to you." Jay reminded her, moving to stand next to her, almost mirroring her posture. "They're family to you."

"I've worked on cases that were personal to me before." She reminded him. "We all have."

"Never ends well."

"It works out."

"At a cost." Jay let out a sigh, watching his partner for a moment. She'd been tense for so long now, moreso than usually came from the daily grind. This trial was wearing her down, and he was worried about her. "Hailey, I won't let anything happen to them. It's not all on you. We're a team, remember."

She nodded. He was right, she'd told Rojas similar not all that long ago, and she knew she needed to go back to following her own advice. This case had felt like it was hers alone when she was undercover, but it never really had been, and it definitely wasn't now. Letting go of control was difficult this time, though. It wasn't just a case, it was more than five years of her life, it was part of what had shaped her, had made her the person she was today.

**-Ghosts-**

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"The hand thing." Maggie elaborated. "With Ava."

Connor frowned, not really wanting to discuss it. He hadn't really been thinking about what he was doing at the time, and he'd been trying to figure out what it meant that she hadn't immediately pulled her hand away, how he should be interpreting her nod, ever since she had left hours earlier.

"Nothing."

"Really?" Maggie seemed amused by his claim. "Looked like something."

"We're going to be working together." He excused. "We're figuring out how to co-exist."

"You can do that without the hand holding and the longing looks."

Connor's eyes narrowed briefly. Only Maggie could get away with delving into his personal life like this, and she knew it. Even if he had objected to it before, with everything she was going through, he couldn't do that now.

"Honestly, I don't know what's going on." He admitted. "We're talking a little, but she's not easy to get hold of right now."

"What's she saying?"

"Not as much as I'd like her to."

"Can you blame her?"

"Not really."

Maggie watched him for a moment. "What do you want, Connor?"

"What?"

"What do you want?" She repeated the question. "You keep saying that the two of you are getting on, but is that all it is? Colleagues? Friends?"

He considered his response for a moment, knowing Maggie wouldn't accept a non-answer. It wasn't an easy question for him to answer. "I want her in my life."

"In what capacity?"

"Whatever she's happy with, I guess."

He noted the curiosity in the nurse's gaze. "So it's all on her?"

"What do you mean?"

Maggie didn't seem to like what he had said. "You think she'll let you back in without you taking any responsibility?"

"For what?"

Maggie let out a frustrated sigh. " You blew up your relationship with her and it led to you accusing her of murder."

"I apologised."

"You accused her of murder." Maggie repeated the statement as if hearing it again would help him understand. "An apology won't cut it."

"I know she didn't do it."

"That doesn't change that you thought she had. It doesn't change that the only reason you know that now is because it was proven to you. You think you had problems trusting her, you can't even begin to imagine how difficult it will be for her to trust you again."

As much as he wanted to object, Connor knew that he couldn't. It made sense. He'd spoken to her twice since she had come back to town. Twice. As willing as she had been to talk to him, she'd never made any attempt to share her new number with him, had never called him from it. What little they had addressed that night at Molly's had been relatively minor stuff compared to everything else that had happened. She didn't trust him any more, and it hurt to accept that she didn't really have much reason to.

"I don't even know where to start."

Maggie's face softened, and he could tell she was taking pity on him. "You have to talk about everything, find a way to learn to trust each other. If you want to have a chance at even a friendship, you need to have some painful conversations, and you need to be there for her during the fallout."

"She doesn't really want to talk about everything that happened." He felt the need to explain. "I have to wait until she's ready."

"You do." Maggie agreed. "On certain subjects. She's not the only one that has issues that need addressing though, is she? You need to take a look at your own baggage. You didn't just one day decide not to trust her, Connor. You've struggled on that front as long as I've known you."

She was right again. She had a habit of being right.

"What does that have to do with taking responsibility?"

"It wasn't only her issues that destroyed your relationship, Connor. It was yours too. Own it."

**-Ghosts-**

Ava frowned, watching her sister from across the room as she scrolled endlessly through channels on the TV. They'd been talking just minutes before, but, as with every other time she had attempted to bring the subject up, Ava had been shut down the second she mentioned Blake. Chloe refused to talk about him, and it was something that concerned her.

It wasn't fair, she knew that, but after what she had found out about Ella, she couldn't help but wonder. Chloe had said Blake would do anything for her, that she didn't even have to ask. But had she?

Years ago she would have said no, of course Chloe didn't ask, but her sister was no longer the teenager she had been separated from, she was an adult that had learned to fend for herself a long time ago. An adult that Ava didn't know as well as she would like to claim she did. An adult that would do _anything_, it seemed, for her family.

"Guys, I'm back!"

Ava stood at the sound of her brother's voice, noting that Chloe herself had barely reacted to the intrusion. It unnerved her.

She moved to the doorway, leaning on the frame as she watched her brother kick off his shoes. As soon as he looked up, his smile fell.

"What's wrong?"

Ava let out a sigh, glancing back at Chloe before nodding towards stairs before heading up them.

Matty followed her, pausing only for a moment at the door to the first bedroom after spying his son's sleeping form.

"What's up?"

"I'm probably going to sound paranoid. Maybe a little crazy."

"We're all a little crazy." Matty shrugged. "What is it?"

Ava looked back towards the door, then focused on her brother. "Do you think Chloe asked Blake to..."

"No." Matty hadn't needed her to finish her question. "You're right, that _is _crazy. Why would you think that? I mean, it's Chloe, she couldn't pronounce the word 'spaghetti' until she was ten."

Ava let out a laugh at the memory, despite it's irrelevance. "She won't talk about him. Whenever I ask she gets defensive. I think there's something she doesn't want us to know."

"It's Chloe, Mads." Matty reminded her. "She's not capable."

"Up until last week, I would have said the same about Ella."

He frowned. "What's she got to do with anything?"

"She tried to kill dad." Ava decided to be blunt, it was better than dragging it out. "Might have succeeded."

"Who told you that?"

Ava sighed. "Uncle John. Last week. He didn't seem to want to, but I guess I still ask too many questions."

"She was nine when that bastard croaked." He seemed sceptical.

"Yeah, and she tried to sabotage his treatment before he did."

Matty paused for a moment, taking in the information before he shrugged. "She was nine and messed up." Another pause. "And he deserved it."

"It doesn't bother you at all?"

"Nope." Matty confirmed. "And murder isn't genetic, Chloe's fine."

"She's not." Ava corrected him. "She may not have done anything wrong but she's not fine. She's traumatised."

Matty nodded, agreeing. "We manage. We always have."

"I'm not sure Ella ever did."

"We're not Ella."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence, ignoring the unintended suggestion that he had made – Ella wasn't their problem any more. She'd chosen that herself.

"How did your appointment go?"

If Matty minded the abrupt subject change, he didn't verbalise that. "Fine. Probably not going to have many more to go to."

Ava nodded. "That's good."

"Had a nice chat with your boyfriend, too."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly. "Boyfriend?"

"Yeah, ran into him when I got there." Matty elaborated, the grin on his face irritating her. "He said he saw you this morning."

"Yeah." Ava confirmed, knowing there was no use denying anything that her brother was saying. He'd been referring to Connor as her 'boyfriend' ever since he had met him the week before.

"He wanted me to ask you something."

"Okay."

"Wanted to know if it would be okay with you if he came to the trial."

"Why?" Her brow furrowed as the strange request confused her.

"He said he wants to be there for you, but only if you..."

"MADDIE!"

They both turned at the interruption, and within a second were hurrying back down the stairs in the direction of their sister's yell, their uncle meeting them as he too went to find out what had happened.

"What happened?"

The alarm in her eyes wasn't matched in Chloe's, who, despite her yelling, was remarkably calm.

The younger woman nodded towards the TV. "What's Necrotizing Fasciitis?"


	20. Chapter 20

**Once again, sorry for the delay. **

* * *

"Honey!"

She looked up from the book she was reading. "In here!"

There was a brief pause before her husband entered the room, his uniform still as orderly as it had been when he left that morning, but his smile betraying the seriousness of his job.

"You look like you had a good day."

His smile widened. "I got the leave I requested."

"You requested leave?"

"I saw that look on your face when you saw those dates."

She softened, a small smile gracing her features. "We can go?"

He nodded. "Just for a couple of weeks, but yes." He paused, moving to sit beside her and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Lets go see your kids."

For a brief moment her face fell and she let out a sigh. "Not all of them."

"No, but it's a start."

**-Ghosts-**

"There's another one."

Ava froze, slowly looking up from the book she had been reading to look towards the tv screen, still in slight disbelief. Even after hearing of that first case, and with knowing how infectious it could be, she had assumed it was under control. After all, neither Kevin or Kim had mentioned it the previous day, nor had Hailey when she had called the previous night. It seemed like it was something that would come up.

"How many is that now?"

"Fourteen." Ava stated, her gaze remaining on the tv as she answered her brother's question. "It doesn't make sense."

"So last night it was three and now there's fourteen?"

"Five." Ava corrected. "Fourth and fifth cases were confirmed last night."

"They probably all know each other, right?"

Sensing Chloe's concern, Ava looked to her sister.

"Hopefully." Ava considered. "If they haven't had any contact..."

"'If they haven't had any contact' what?"

"Anyone could get infected."

"Couldn't they have just all been to the same place?"

Ava nodded. "But if no one can figure out where..."

"This could be bad."

"Just stay inside." Matty shrugged. "Can't get it if we don't go out."

Ava shifted, moving to turn off the TV. "That won't help." She glanced from one sibling to the other. "Anxiety and panic never helps."

"Has Hailey said anything?"

"She's not answering." Ava frowned. "None of them are. They're probably busy."

"Weren't they there when that first guy went down? At the game?" Matty pondered aloud. "Maybe they have it?"

"I really don't want to think about that." Ava admitted. "They're our friends."

"And you were both around them yesterday." Chloe pointed out. "You could be infected, which means I could, and Uncle John could. Even AJ."

"No one's infected." Matty insisted. "We'd know by now, right Mads?"

"Not necessarily."

"Could you not have just said yes?"

"I'm not going to lie to make you feel better." Ava rolled her eyes. "Wasn't it you that said we already have enough lies in our lives?"

Matty relented. "Yeah. I'm beginning to think we could probably do with a few more white lies."

"Lying to you about this wouldn't protect you." She groaned, moving across the room as her phone alerted her to a new message. "Just pay attention to your own bodies. Anything out of the ordinary, say something"

She picked up her phone, unlocking it to read the full message, and, after taking only a second to digest what was being asked of her, left the room.

"What is it?" Chloe followed her out of the room and to the stairs. "Do you have it?"

"No." Ava shot back, heading upstairs and grabbing everything she was going to need and putting it in her backpack.

Her sister was still standing at the foot of the stairs when she returned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Ava moved forward, grabbing her shoes before sitting on the stairs to put them on.

Chloe watched her with eyes narrowed. "Where are you going?"

Ava didn't answer, brushing past her sister and grasping her coat, barely even taking the time to fasten it before pulling open the front door.

"Where are you going?!"

"Work." Ava finally answered, taking a moment to look to her sister. "I've been called in."

"You're not even cleared to work."

"I was cleared yesterday."

Chloe frowned. "You're on leave."

"No one's on leave in an epidemic."

"Maddie, you can't go. You haven't even checked with Agent Stevens."

"I'll call her on the way." She managed to stop herself from admitting that she didn't care.

"How are you going to get there?"

Ava paused. She hadn't really considered that part. It wasn't as if she could take public transport.

"Officer Martins!"

She waited until the man appeared in the kitchen doorway, his colleague just behind him.

"I need a ride."

**-Ghosts-**

She'd opted not to mention to the officer just what she was doing, and to her relief, he hadn't asked. He probably just assumed it was an appointment that no one had mentioned to him. It wasn't until she was pushing open the doctors lounge door that he questioned her, and she filled him in on her intention to work, and she was surprised when he raised no objections, waiting as she rushed into the room to change. He was still there when she came back out.

"I'll be fine if you go back to the house."

"I'm not allowed to leave you."

That was where the conflict began. The last thing she wanted was a police escort at work. If nothing else it would scare the patients, and that wasn't in anyone's best interests.

"I'll let hospital security know I'm here, and I won't leave the building." She glanced around the ED, knowing it would be easy to keep that promise considering the sheer amount of people there. She continued to look around, hoping to see security nearby to put the officer at ease, but instead, her eyes widened at the sight of a blood-soaked Hailey, standing motionless across the department, clear apprehension in her expression. "Detective Upton's here."

The officer followed her gaze, nodding as he noticed the detective. "She could probably take over with you."

That hadn't been what Ava had meant, but she wasn't about to argue with him.

"Dr. Bekker." She looked to the side as Goodwin approached, watched as the woman looked her over. "What are you doing here?"

Ava frowned. "I got a text, I was called in."

"Ah." Recognition flashed through the older woman's eyes. "I mentioned to Ms. Garrett yesterday that you had been cleared for work, she must have changed your status. You're happy to stay?"

Ava nodded, her eyes briefly moving across the ED again to where she had spied her friend. Hailey was no longer there. "Yeah."

"Then Dr. Latham could really use you covering his post ops upstairs." Goodwin advised. "I've had to pull a lot of the team down here."

Ava smiled. "Got it." She looked briefly to the officer. "I'll be fine." She took off without waiting for a response, opting to take the stairs and half-expecting to see the officer following her. He didn't.

It felt strange to her that she wasn't disappointed to be away from the action, mere months ago the thought of missing out on what was going on would have bothered her, but then, mere months ago she'd had very little to lose. Her life had been falling apart, trauma had been impacting her everyday life more than she'd cared to admit to anyone, and if she had contracted a contagious disease in an epidemic and died, no one other than Hailey would would have missed her, her family were gone, she'd shut herself off so successfully that Hailey had been the only friend she had, and Connor, he'd probably have been glad she wasn't around any more if he even cared at all.

Things were different now. She had most of her family back, and reconnecting with them had been the one gift she had doubted she'd ever receive. She'd realised through the emails she'd sent to Goodwin and Maggie while in Seattle that more people had her back than she'd known. The protection detail, as frustrating as she had found it, had helped her connect with Jay, Kevin, Kim and Adam. She had friends now, things she wanted to be around for. It was difficult to be disappointed that the slight risk of not being there had been reduced.

She headed straight to the nurses station after stepping out onto the floor, unsurprised to find the nurse on duty had already prepared the patient files and was ready to hand them to her – Goodwin must have called up.

"Priority?"

"Valve replacement in 2. Lawrence Oliver, 41-year-old male." The nurse responded without needing elaboration. "Coded in theater this morning, Dr. Latham couldn't find any reason for it, so he asked that we monitor him closely."

Ava nodded, taking the files and moving the patient in 2 to the top of the list, opening it to go over the man's notes before looking back to the nurse. "How is Dr. Latham doing?"

The nurse seemed slightly taken aback by the question. "He was a little stressed by the change in routine, but he knows the drill, emergencies over electives."

"I've never liked that word."

"Sorry?"

"Elective." Ava explained. "In this context it doesn't fit. Non-critical cases that require surgery are likely to become critical if they're left long enough."

The nurse nodded, biting her lip as if she wasn't sure whether or not to say anything else.

"Is this it?"

Another nod.

"I'd better get started." She smiled faintly before taking a step back, heading towards the first patient, but pausing for a moment, only long enough to call "It's good to see you, Megan" over her shoulder.

**-Ghosts-**

Connor threw his scrub cap on the ground in frustration. He'd known this day was going to get to him more than most when he came in, but he hadn't expected to have lost three patients in a little under four hours. Days like this only happened in the most extreme circumstances, but they were losing people so rapidly that it seemed this day stood out from the others.

He looked back to the hybrid OR, watching the nurses cleaning up what they could, preparing the body to be moved to the morgue. She was so young, a college student, and an hour ago she'd been awake and joking about changing her major to get away from the infectious diseases. Now she was gone.

"Why don't you take a break?"

He looked up to meet Goodwin's eyes. "There's not time. Who's next?"

"Take a break, Dr. Rhodes."

He could tell from her tone that it wasn't a request, and he was grateful. He knew he needed to step away from the chaos for a moment.

"I could probably do with some air."

He moved towards the elevators, knowing that going out at the ground level wasn't really a good plan. Between the incoming patients and the gathering media, there wasn't going to be any room to breathe out there. One of the balconies seemed the best option, even if he hadn't been too fond of them since a colleague had jumped to his death not too long ago.

He'd been outside for a couple of minutes when the door opened, and he turned briefly to nod to the nurse that had joined him. He knew her to talk to, Megan something, she'd been a scrub nurse on a few of his surgeries over the years, but she wasn't someone he knew much about. He nodded to her, turning back to gaze out at the view of the city.

She moved to look out over the same view, keeping a reasonable distance between them, so it took him a while to notice her repeated anxious glances towards him.

"Don't worry." He sighed. "I'm not contagious."

She looked surprised. "It's not that... I didn't..."

"Aren't you usually downstairs?"

"Um..." She cut off before giving a brief nod. "I was off today, they needed me to cover up here."

"Right." He glanced to the door. "I'll get back down there then, get out of your way." He took a step towards it, somewhat frustrated that he hadn't had more time alone.

"Wait!"

He hesitated at the door, turning back to the woman. He barely knew her, and despite noticing her apprehension, he'd assumed he wasn't the cause of it. Now, seeing the fear in her eyes, he realised he was.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I got it, I really did, Dr. Halstead was missing, but you crossed a line, and he died, I couldn't say nothing."

His heart sank at her words as he understood what it was she was saying, his mind connecting the dots as he realised that she was one of the nurses there that day. "It was you."

She nodded. "I guess sorry isn't the right word though, because I'm not, not for reporting you, I had to, it was the right thing to do. I'm sorry I let you blame someone else instead of owning it."

Her words were like a punch in the gut. Ava hadn't reported him. She hadn't reported him but she _had _lied for him. He'd almost forgotten, in the chaos of the past months, that the incident had even occurred, but now all he could see was the hurt in her eyes when he'd accused her.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

Megan sighed. "She doesn't deserve to be blamed."

Connor scoffed. She never had. "Why now?"

"Guilt, I guess." She shrugged. "Dr. Bekker's been kind all morning, and it just seemed wrong that I was still letting you blame her."

He was about to reply, tell her that it was always wrong, but found himself caught on her words. "All morning? She's here?"

"She's covering Dr. Latham's post ops..."

He was moving as soon as the words were out, deciding not to fight his overwhelming urge to see her. It wasn't as if he had the option to call her any more, he had to take every chance to see her that he could, and hope it helped her learn to trust him again, even if only enough to let him have her new number.

He had noticed the underlying suggestion in the nurse's words – that had Ava not been kind to her that day, she'd have kept quiet, that it was okay to tarnish someone's reputation if you didn't like them – but he couldn't bring himself to focus on it right now. He had something else to apologise for, although he realised he probably already had that night at Molly's, the incident had just slipped his mind at the time, so he hadn't considered it. He needed to apologise again, while he had the chance to.

Still, when he spotted her he paused, watching her laugh as she conversed with a patient, one eye on the chart in front of her. After a minute she looked up, almost as if she had felt that she was being watched, and their eyes met. She turned back to the patient almost instantly, and after exchanging a few words with the woman, made her way back to the nurse's station – his opportunity to approach.

"How is it down there?"

She hadn't waited for him to start the conversation, and when he took a moment to answer her she turned to him with curious eyes, expectantly waiting for a response.

"Intense."

He hoped the word would be enough, for now at least, he had no doubt she'd have so many questions later on, when they could both afford to take a longer break, at least.

"Is it true there's an entire apartment building in quarantine?"

"Yes." He confirmed. "I'm not sure on the details but they think it's the main site of infection."

"Do they know where it came from?"

"Not yet." He waited for her to respond, but she didn't, instead opting to shuffle through the patient files in front of her. "So, you're back at work."

"Yes." She commented, before quickly adding, "but also no."

"That's confusing."

She sighed. "I was cleared to work yesterday, just in time to get called in today." She looked back up at him. "Typical, of course. The day after I get cleared for basic duties, effectively ending my medical leave, an epidemic hits."

"The FBI were okay with it?"

"I'm not going to let them stop me from doing my job, Connor."

He nodded, that was the Ava he knew, but he couldn't help but feel she was being a little off when it came to the Ava he had come to know more recently. "Of course."

She glanced towards the door he had entered from. "Did you see Megan on your way here?

"Um..." He paused, looking to the door himself then turning back. "On the balcony. I was..."

"She probably won't be..." Ava cut off. "You were what?"

"I was hoping to talk to you about her."

"About how she was the one that reported you?"

His eyes narrowed at her question. "You know?"

"She told me this morning."

His frown deepened, that didn't really fit with Megan's claim that Ava had been kind to her all day. "You're not angry?"

"Why would I be?"

"After everything..."

"She reported you, Connor." Ava stated. "She reported you because a man died and it could have been the result of our actions. It was her job."

He nodded. "But after..."

"Your choice to blame me is on you, Connor." Ava reminded him of the obvious. "Not her."

"I'm sorry."

"You've said."

"If it helps, I regret it."

"It does." She contemplated, tilting her head slightly. "A little, anyway."

"A little?"

"I get it." She reminded him, and he felt he didn't deserve her understanding. "But it still hurt. I thought..."

He frowned when she cut off. "You thought?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

He was about to respond, but the sound of a door opening and approaching footsteps stopped him, and he looked up to meet Goodwin's gaze.

"Did you need me?"

The older woman frowned, but her focus wasn't on him.

"Dr. Bekker."

Ava visibly tensed as she was addressed. "Has something happened?"

"It could be nothing, but I wanted you to hear it from me, and as you know, word travels fast in this place."

"What is it?"

"Detective Upton has been placed in quarantine. It's a precaution, and she's being monitored, but..."

"Hailey."

**-Ghosts-**

Hailey paced, unsure of what else she could even do. The frustration of being unable to work in the current situation was getting to her far more than she cared to admit, and the constant complaints from those around her was beginning to give her a headache. Since when was following basic instructions difficult?

"I've asked them to put a rush on your test results, hopefully we'll have you out of her in no time."

She gave Natalie a small smile. It wasn't her fault, if anything, Hailey knew it was her own. Going in without backup was never advised, and going in without any protection in the middle of an epidemic was stupid. She hadn't thought about it at the time, and now it was one of very few things on her mind.

"You should get some rest."

Hailey gestured around her. "I don't think that'll be possible."

"Probably not," Natalie agreed, "but you could still try."

"Has anyone let Voight know I'm here?"

"Ms. Goodwin called him."

"Jay?"

"Will called him on his break. Voight had already let him know."

"He's probably..." Hailey cut off as she noticed Ava moving through the area, a frantic look in her eyes as she glanced around anxiously, making a beeline for her as soon as she spotted her. "I'm fine." She sighed, taking in what her friend was wearing. "Why are you working?"

"I..." Ava frowned, looking herself over as if she had forgotten why she was at the hospital. "What happened?"

"Woman collapsed on me, she's infected." Hailey kept the explanation brief. "What are you doing here?"

"I was called in."

"That happens in situations like this." Natalie interjected, as if she thought Hailey may not know that. "Need all the staff we can get."

"I know." Hailey confirmed, her eyes remaining on Ava. "She's not meant to be here."

"I was called in."

"Did you clear it with Agent Stevens?"

"I cleared it with one of the officers with us today."

"Which officer? Where are they?"

"Martins. He left when he saw you."

Hailey's eyes narrowed. "Natalie, can you get Will to call Jay back. Let him know she's here."

"I'm not leaving." Ava was insistent, her eyes defiant. "I'm staying until I'm no longer needed, and I'm sure you're okay."

"I'm fine." Hailey repeated her earlier assurance. "That's not going to change."

Natalie listened, her curiosity peaked. Hailey's tone had changed with her reassurances, almost as if she was trying to talk Ava down from a ledge she didn't seem to be on.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

The detective rolled her eyes as her friend turned to Natalie for confirmation, and groaned in frustration when the doctor admitted that they wouldn't know for sure until they got the test results. Ava already knew that, it wasn't facts she had needed.

"I'm going to be fine. I'll be out of here and back to work before you know it. Get back to work, okay. If anything happens to me, I'll make sure someone finds you."

Ava gave a small nod. "You better."

Hailey waited until her friend was out of sight before turning back to Natalie. "Tell Dr. Charles she's here, too."

"Dr. Charles?"

"Just let him know."

**-Ghosts-**

Connor frowned as he walked into the doctors lounge, barely managing to stifle a yawn as he observed Ava. Sitting with her head leaning back, staring at the ceiling, the unfamiliar cell phone in her hand being ignored.

"Is Upton okay?"

Ava shifted, raising her head to look at him as she pulled her legs beneath her, her eyes giving away her exhaustion. "Yeah." Her eyes drifted closed for a moment, then snapped open as if she had remembered where she was, or realised who it was in the room with her. "You heading out?"

He nodded. "Next shift started about an hour ago."

"Oh." She glanced down at the iphone in her hand before looking back up at him. "Night."

He moved, but instead of heading towards the door, found himself sitting down next to her. "Long day?" She pulled a face in response, and he couldn't help but smile. "That bad?"

"When Hailey..."

He frowned as she cut off, unsure as to whether or not he should prompt her to continue. "You said she's okay?"

"She is." Ava confirmed, her head unexpectedly falling onto his shoulder. "She's good."

The physical contact surprised him, and he felt concern growing in him that she hadn't really realised the significance of the moment, and that if he mentioned it to her, he could scare her off. "Just scary?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "Hailey's been all I have since I moved here."

That stung. "That's not true."

"Yes it is." Ava lamented. "The only person that really knew me. I guess she kind of still is."

"What about your family?"

"They know who I used to be."

He contemplated placing an arm around her shoulders, but decided against it, not knowing how she'd react. Instead, he opted to change the subject. "Want me to wait with you until your ride gets here?"

"Might be waiting a while."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know who's coming. Or when."

He looked to the phone in her hand. "Did you not call anyone to pick you up?"

"Phone's dead."

"Want to use mine?"

"Will called Jay for me. And Hailey. They're not answering. I don't know the other numbers."

"So you're just going to wait?"

"Yeah."

"That doesn't sound very safe."

She shifted off of him, and he was slightly relieved that she didn't seem alarmed by the fact she had just been leaning on him. "I'll go back upstairs, it'll be fine."

"That's not really a plan."

"Someone will show up eventually."

He sighed, deciding to take the risk. "Why don't you come to mine?"

"Connor..."

"I can't let you stay here."

"It's not a good idea." She was alert now, shifting away from him slightly. "I can't."

"Staying here isn't a good idea." He reasoned. He'd expected this reaction before he asked. "Once you get to mine, you can charge your phone, call whoever you need to and let them know you're okay. They won't have any reason to panic."

"That's not why it's a bad idea..."

She looked down as she cut off, and he sighed. Of course. They weren't really in a place where that was something they'd do, especially after everything that had happened between them that year.

"It's not ideal." He hoped she'd be more open to the idea if he met her halfway in some form, because if she didn't, they'd both end up sitting around the hospital for however long it took for someone to show up. "It's better than staying here, though. Think about it logically. This is a public building. Anyone can walk in here. A private building with a doorman has to be safer."

Her expression changed. She knew he was right, but he could also tell she didn't want to give in.

"How is Max?"

He smiled as she referenced the doorman by name. Of course she remembered. "He's doing well. He's asked about you a few times."

"That's nice."

"He'd love to see you."

"Connor..."

"Just think of it as a friend helping out another friend, okay."

"But..."

"Come on." He stood up, holding out a hand to her. "The sooner we go, the sooner you'll be able to get that phone charged."

"I really don't think..."

He turned his hand slightly, shooting her a pointed look and waiting for her to respond.


	21. Chapter 21

Ava sunk back into the pillow, refusing to open her eyes despite being able to feel the warmth of the morning sun on her face. It had been a while since she had last slept in. The past few months she'd had to grow accustomed to being woken early by an over-excited toddler, so it made a change to have the option to go back to sleep. She let out a contented sigh, burying herself deep in the duvet with every intention of returning to sleep.

"Comfortable?"

Her eyes snapped open, and she suddenly became aware of the figure pressed against her back, the arm draped lazily over her body that wasn't her own. For a brief moment a feeling of calm overtook her as her mind caught up, reminding her where she was, before her panic began to build.

"Shit!"

"Ava?"

She moved to jump out of bed, shoving the duvet off of her, only for the arm to prevent her exit.

"Seriously, Connor, they're going to be freaking out."

"Breathe."

She scowled at the instruction. "I didn't call them last night." She looked to him. "Did I? I just remember plugging the phone in and crashing..." She hesitated, her eyes narrowing. "Crashing on the couch."

He let out a laugh. "You got changed first."

She briefly looked toward her clothes, surprised to see she was wearing an old shirt of Connor's and recognising some old pyjama pants she barely remembered leaving at his. "You kept these?"

"Them, and some other stuff you left here." He shrugged. "None of it was mine to throw out."

She nodded, biting her lip. "I didn't call them, did I?"

Connor shook his head. "Nope, but I called Atwater, had his number for a few months, since..." He cut off. "They know where you are, they know you're okay."

Another nod. "How did I get in here?"

"I wasn't going to leave you on the couch."

She sat up, and was somewhat relieved when he released his grip on her. It was a little too close to how things used to be for her liking. "It wouldn't have mattered."

"Yes it would."

She gazed at him for a moment before moving off the bed. "Is Kevin coming to pick me up?"

"No." Connor couldn't help but frown at her use of the detective's first name. "They're swamped with the epidemic case. He let the FBI know."

"Oh."

"Is that okay?"

"Yeah." She gave a small nod, moving towards the bedroom door. "The lecture was going to come sooner or later, might as well get it over with."

She moved into the bathroom, locking the door behind her, and splashed her face with water as she heard him asking her if she'd like coffee. She responded, gazing at her reflection in the mirror. She frowned, noting the mess her hair was in, and searched her memory for any indication that she had remembered to bring her backpack with her when she had left the hospital – she was sure she had a brush inside it. She ran her fingers through her hair, finishing up before stepping out of the bathroom and heading down the hallway to where she could hear him in the kitchen.

Pausing in the doorway, she watched him for a moment, spying the familiar mugs on the counter, the toaster already in use. It was just like old times. Except it wasn't.

Stepping into the room, she spied her backpack sitting on the couch, and moved over to it, pulling the brush out of it and running it through her hair, watching him carefully as she did. He hadn't looked up from his task, but the change in his body language told her that he knew she was there.

She inched towards her phone, unsure whether or not she wanted to check it, but knowing that she had to, and grasped it before she could change her mind, frowning at the sheer amount of missed calls from her sister. There weren't many, she noticed, from anyone else. Everyone else seemed to stop trying late the previous night, so at least she knew Connor _was_ telling the truth – PD and the FBI would be far more concerned if he hadn't called. She glanced back at him, watching as he continued with his task.

"You know how I told you I don't like peanuts?"

She moved towards him as he looked up, approaching the counter and settling onto one of the stools by it.

"Yeah."

"I don't actually know if I like them." She admitted. It was small, but it was something. "I've never had them. Ella's allergic, so we were never allowed."

"You never tried them after..."

"No." Ava admitted, shrugging slightly. "It felt kind of disloyal. I know it makes no sense, but I've always felt that if she can't, I won't."

"Old habits die hard."

"I guess." She frowned, "But I don't really like looking at them, not since..."

"Since?" Connor prompted, his gaze curious, but somehow giving away his willingness to be patient.

She took a deep breathe. "When I was seven, some peanuts ended up in Ella's food. I guess I just associate them with that fear."

"How'd they get in her food?" He queried. "Restaurant?"

She looked away, glancing to her hands, resting on the table. "We were at home."

"A mistake?"

Ava looked up. "He said he was forcing the weakness out of her."

She watched as he froze, pausing for a moment before focusing on her. "And you?"

"Me?"

"What did he do to you?"

Her eyes darkened briefly, her stare becoming vacant, before she seemed to shake it off and her gaze fixed on him. "We're not there yet, Connor."

He nodded, turning back to the coffee, and for a moment she was disappointed, almost as if she had been hoping he would press the issue. It wasn't something she'd ever talked about all that often. She couldn't really recall letting anyone in to that part of her life since her first therapist - that had been almost two decades ago, and even then it had taken almost two years of weekly appointments just for her to allow the subject to come up.

When he turned back to her he was smiling, and he placed a mug down in front of her, gently, as if anything more would startle her. She didn't like it. She'd never really considered how differently she may be viewed if people knew about her past, not until Madison, the past, began merging with Ava, the present. The idea of being seen as weak horrified her in ways she couldn't explain, and in ways she doubted it would have had she never had to become someone else in the first place.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm about to break."

"That's a look?"

"Yes, it's a look." She looked down, focusing on her hands grazing the mug in front of her.

He seemed to sense her discomfort. "So, how long do you think it'll take me to win Chloe round?"

"Chloe?" She looked up at him, her gaze suddenly curious.

"Yeah." He smiled, reaching forward and placing his hand next to hers, inches from touching. "I know she hates me, how long until I change her mind on that? I'm going to say a couple of weeks."

She let out a laugh, a bright smile settling on her face. "That ego of yours really is something."

"You love it."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"I already am sure."

She smirked. "I guess you're not as smart as you like to think you are."

His smile fell, his expression turning serious. "I think I've made that clear this past year."

She frowned, dropping her gaze to the mug again and falling silent. She hated how easy it was to forget the past months when she was around him, and how much it hurt when she was reminded.

"Ava?"

She bit her lip, taking a moment before looking back up at him. "Might be a lifetime."

"What?"

"How long it'll take you to win Chloe round." She gave a brief smile, hoping he would play along instead of trying to force a conversation she was somewhat scared of having. "A lifetime."

"You have to give me some credit!" His exclamation was the confirmation that she needed that he was willing to play along, even if it was just for now. "Five years?"

She decided to ignore the implication that they would still be in each other's lives in five years time. "Chloe's not exactly the most forgiving of people."

"I'd never have guessed." He quipped. "She's a ray of sunshine."

"She's tough." Ava rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "Tougher than I remember, actually." She paused, letting out a sigh. "She's not so easy to get through to."

"Like her sister."

"Trauma fucks you up, and Chlo's had more than her fair share."

Connor nodded, opting not to give a verbal response to the statement, she assumed to avoid saying the wrong thing.

"What about Upton?"

"Hailey?" Ava's expression turned curious, her eyes narrowed as she took him in. "What about her?"

"You're close."

"Yeah."

"I kind of find it hard to imagine that."

"Why?"

"I just can't picture the two of you having much in common."

"People like Hailey and I," Ava let out a sigh, biting her lip briefly before continuing. "We find each other."

"People like..."

"People with a painful history."

He nodded, and she was relieved he seemed to have decided not to pry. Hailey's past wasn't hers to go into.

A momentary silence fell over them as he pondered his next words.

"All the time I've known you, I never once thought you even knew her."

"It never seemed relevant." She gave a half-hearted shrug. "We never really talked about that."

"I should have asked."

"I probably wouldn't have told you anyway."

"Why is that?"

She was surprised that the admittance didn't seem to have annoyed him. "Eventually you'd have wanted to know more. You'd have asked how I met her, and I would have had to lie. It was easier not to say anything at all."

He let out a laugh and she almost scowled at the sound, but instead remained silent, waiting for him to let her in on the joke.

"It's ironic." He commented after a moment. "I didn't trust you because it felt like you were keeping things from me, and in reality you were just trying not to lie to me."

She frowned. She hadn't thought of it like that, and as true as it was, it wasn't something she found funny. It was just sad.

Her lack of response didn't seem to bother him as he moved across the kitchen, towards the opposite counter. "You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Humour me."

"Connor..."

He turned to her, the look in his eyes something she wasn't used to seeing from him. "Please. For me."

She let out a sigh, nodding reluctantly, and some ten minutes later found herself taking small bites out of a slice of toast, his eyes watching her every move. As she finished she pushed the plate away, eyeing him carefully. "Is there any particular reason you needed to see me eat?"

"To make sure you did." He tried to shrug it off, so she narrowed her eyes, using her expression to make it clear she wasn't buying the excuse. He sighed. "Okay, it's not just that."

"Then what is it?"

"I was trying to get you to raise your arm a little."

"Why?"

"I just wanted to check."

"Check what?"

"Your mobility."

"Why?" She was curious, and he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another as she gazed at him. "Worried about the competition when I'm cleared for surgery again?"

"No." He paused, as if he was trying to figure out whether or not to say what he wanted to. "I'm worried about what happens if you don't get cleared."

"Why would I not get cleared?"

"If it doesn't heal properly."

"It already is. Dr. Evanson's just being cautious."

"You're sure?"

"Why does it bother you so much?"

He ignored the question, moving around the counter towards her. "Do you mind if I check it?"

"Why?" She queried, confused as to his sudden interest in her injuries. "Dr. Evanson's been great."

"I'm sure." He agreed, his gaze dropping to her shoulder briefly before he met her eyes once again. "Just... for piece of mind."

She frowned for a second before shrugging, reaching up and pushing down the sleeve of the shirt she had on, exposing the scarring that was all that remained of the bullet she had taken months before. He approached, and almost instantly his hand was moving over the skin, gently brushing her shoulder before momentarily applying pressure. She shuddered, and his eyes filled with concern that she quickly brushed aside with a look, deciding not to tell him that it wasn't pain that had caused the involuntary action.

"It looks like it's healing well." He moved his hand, taking a step back, and she quickly moved the sleeve back into place. "And there's no pain?"

She shook her head. "Not really."

"Not really?"

"I can't extend my arm properly and without pain, yet." She elaborated. "Well, I couldn't at my last appointment. I haven't tried since then."

He nodded, leaning against the counter in front of her. "You said in hospital you'd been shot before?"

Letting out a laugh, she nudged him out of the way and placed her right foot on the stool next to her, pulling the pant leg up to her knee and gesturing to a scar that seemed to travel from the front of the limb to the side. "Bullet embedded in the muscle."

"Ouch."

"Pretty long recovery, too." She elaborated. "Spent about seven months on a military base with my aunt before being officially put into the program."

"You didn't go when your family did?"

"Nope." Ava sighed. "They wanted the treatment sorted first, so it was still covered by insurance. I was there to say goodbye when they left, and wasn't allowed to tell them I wasn't going to be in the same position right away. They still don't know."

"Why haven't you told them?"

"The last thing Uncle John needs to hear right now is that there were more lies." She moved her leg down, covering up the scar. "Not yet anyway."

Another silence, and this time she took the opportunity to stand, planning to call her brother – she knew she had to contact one of them, and Matty would definitely be the easiest to deal with, but instead she missed her footing, stumbling forward, and was only just saved from hitting the floor when Connor grasped her arms.

"I'm beginning to think you like getting hurt."

She let out a laugh, righting herself, his hands still steady on her arms. She looked to him, intending to thank him for catching her and likely preventing yet another injury, but the words caught in her throat when the action made her realise how close they were.

"Um... thanks."

"You're welcome."

Neither of them moved, his gentle grip on her arms remaining, their gazes locked on each other, the look in his eyes all too familiar to her. She was frozen, knowing she should move but unable to bring herself to. His gaze shifted to her lips briefly before returning to her eyes, as if seeking permission. Her own eyes closed, she wasn't sure if it had been an attempt to take in the moment, but it was all it took for her to come to her senses.

She stepped back, pulling away as his arms dropped by his sides. "I should... um..." She gestured towards her bag across the room. "Get dressed. I should get dressed."

She moved quickly, collecting the item before turning to head to the bathroom once more.

"Ava."

She didn't look at him, moving past him quickly. It wasn't until she had locked the bathroom door behind her that she dropped the bag on the floor, leaned back against the door and groaned into her hands.

"You idiot."

**-Ghosts-**

"You idiot."

Connor knew scolding himself wasn't going to help matters, but there wasn't much else he could do in the circumstances.

He'd surprised himself. He knew those feelings were still there, he'd shown himself that tenfold over the past months, but he had long convinced himself not to act on them, especially as they began forming some kind of tentative friendship. He'd played the starring role when it came to shattering their relationship, he had to take whatever she was willing to offer.

He should have just stepped away, released her when she was steady. He didn't know why he hadn't, and he guessed he could excuse that, after all, it wasn't that that had caused her to flee to the bathroom. It had been, he assumed, the look on his face. She'd always been pretty good at reading him, even if she didn't think so. She'd known what he'd been thinking, and she'd panicked.

He decided against following her. She needed space, the least he could do was give it to her, so instead he sat down, opting to flick through channels on the TV until she reappeared, knowing that any attempt he made to concentrate on anything would fail.

It was fifteen minutes later that she slowly moved back into the room, and he was surprised she hadn't found reasons to stay locked away longer. He'd expected her to try and avoid him until she was picked up. Instead, she settled in the armchair, her legs curled under her. He tried to remain focused on the TV, not wanting to put her off.

"Are you not working today?"

He looked up at her in surprise. "Um, no. Why?"

"It's nearly ten."

He looked to the clock, noting the time for the first time since getting up, before turning back to her. "Day off. Unless they call me back in."

She moved forward, picking up the phone on the table in front of her, and within seconds was scrolling. "Looks like the epidemic's under control."

"Yeah." He agreed. "Sounded like they had identified the guy when I spoke to Atwater."

"They're not saying much about that on the news." She continued to scroll through the phone for a couple of minutes before placing it back on the coffee table. "Probably won't for a while."

"Ongoing investigation."

She nodded. "It'll all come out in the end. Everything does."

He didn't respond immediately, watching her for a time before deciding to address the elephant in the room. "So we're not going to talk about what happened just now?"

"Nope."

"Can I ask why?"

"Nothing happened."

"It almost did."

"But it didn't."

"Don't you think we need to talk about why?"

"No."

"Ava"

"Connor."

He backed off as he saw the warning in her expression, raising his hands in surrender. "Okay, but eventually we'll have to talk about it."

She rolled her eyes, scoffing as she stood, making her way across the space and grasping her phone. "I should check in. See when someone will be here."

"Why are you in such a rush to leave?"

She hesitated, turning back to him. "I'm not."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Seems like it.

"I'm just..." She cut off, anxiously shifting her phone from one hand to the other. "This is weird."

"How is it?"

"I haven't been here since..."

"That doesn't make it weird."

"It does." She sighed, moving to sit back where she had previously been. "Things are different now."

"I know." He agreed, watching her as she continued to fidget, her eyes trained on her hands. "That doesn't mean it has to be weird, though."

"I guess it's normal for you." She reasoned, suddenly looking up at him. "I haven't had real friends for years, except for Hailey, anyway. Even before that, I never had many, and the few I did have I'd had to leave behind. I don't really have any experience with navigating friendships after so much hurt. It doesn't make sense to me."

"It's not easy." He shrugged. "It's not impossible, though."

"Isn't it?"

"Not when it's worth it."

She nodded, falling silent again, and he decided to give her a moment. She was deep in thought, and he knew better than to interrupt that. She had a lot to figure out.

He looked back to the TV, aware of her repeated glances towards him, so focused on trying to not look towards her that when she finally did speak, he hadn't been expecting it.

"Agent Stevens is almost here." She stood up, glancing around the room as if looking for anything she may have discarded and forgotten about the night before. "The stuff you said I left here, can we sort it another time? I really should be ready when she shows up."

He nodded, somewhat stunned by the pace at which she had began gathering what she had brought with her the previous night. By the time he'd fully registered that she really was about to head out, there was a knock on the door, and as he opened it he knew better than to question the familiar woman on the other side of it. He'd known when he'd briefly met her in the hospital months before, and it was even more evident now.

"You should have called me when you were asked to go to the hospital."

Ava shrugged. "You'd have been against it."

"Do you know how dangerous it was for you to be there alone?"

"Hailey was there."

"Detective Upton was in quarantine." The woman responded, finally looking to Connor. "Thank you for letting us know she was safe. I did not need this headache."

Ava rolled her eyes, looking behind the agent to the two amused colleagues standing behind her. "I apologise if I caused any trouble."

Connor stifled a laugh at her tone, watching as she swiftly moved past the agent, stepping outside of the apartment.

"I'll see you soon, I guess."

He smiled. "Yeah."

It was five minutes after she left, as he was trying to once again focus on the TV, that he heard his phone buzz on the coffee table, alerting him of a new message. He picked it up, frowning as he noted the name of the sender - "Morgan"

He opened the message, smiling as he read it -

_That thing you asked Matty. Yes._

_Also change your phone password._

He laughed. It hadn't even registered to him that it was his phone she had been playing with earlier, and now he was glad that he hadn't noticed. If he'd have questioned it, she may have changed her mind.

**-Ghosts-**


	22. Chapter 22

"Are you ready to go?"

Ava glanced up at her uncle, shooting a nervous smile in his direction. "As I'll ever be."

She opened her bag again, checking the contents for what must have been the fourth time. The two novels were exactly where she left them, next to the medical journals, puzzle books, snacks and water. It was going to be a long day.

"Are you moving in?"

She scoffed at her uncle's comment. "We could be there all day without getting called. I want to be prepared."

"I think you may be prepared for the next month."

"I don't want to be sitting around all day doing nothing."

"Isn't your boyfriend coming along to wait with you?"

Ava scowled. "He's not my boyfriend."

The older man gave her a knowing smile. "For someone who's not your boyfriend, you've spent a lot of time texting him the past few weeks."

"He's a friend."

"So you've said."

She shook her head, opting to change the subject. "I can't believe this is all happening so soon."

John let out a sigh. "I know we weren't expecting to be there on the first day, but isn't it better to get it over with?"

Ava nodded. "I'm just nervous."

"You're ready."

"I've been waiting for this day for so long. I shouldn't be this terrified."

"It's a big deal." He reminded her, leaning against the door frame. "In a few months, we'll be free."

"Only if they're all convicted."

"How could they not be?"

"Juries can be unpredictable."

"Maddie." He took a step forward, approaching her. "You worry too much."

"Someone has to."

"Yes." He agreed. "Me. I'm the parent in this situation."

She gave a small smile in response. "Because you have to be."

He let out a sigh. "Because I choose to be."

Ava nodded, turning to the door, where her sister had appeared. "Please make sure Matty doesn't over-exert himself. He may think he's superman, but he's not."

Chloe smirked. "I know. I'm in charge."

"Yes." John turned to her. "Against our better judgement."

"Make sure he takes his meds and..."

"Maddie." Chloe cut her off. "I've got it covered. We'll be fine."

Ava watched her sister for a moment before looking back to her uncle. "Should we leave a list for Officer Thorpe?"

"Maddie." Chloe still seemed somewhat amused. "I can handle it."

"Make sure he doesn't feed AJ junk for lunch."

"I know." Chloe let out a laugh. "It's almost like Ella's here."

"What?"

"This is what she was always like when we were kids. You don't need to be our mom, Mads."

"I'm not..."

"You're just nervous." John reminded her. "Using those two as a distraction."

Ava took a breathe, nodding. "We should probably go downstairs. They'll be here soon."

**-Ghosts-**

Connor glanced up as the doors opened once again, looking back to his phone after glancing at the unfamiliar woman that had entered. He was early. He'd planned it that way, having wanting to be there when she arrived.

"Not long to go now."

He looked up again at the sound of the voice, noting that the woman had sat across from him, a man by her side, his hand resting over hers, the formal military uniform slightly intimidating him.

"They might not be here today."

"Even if they're not, they will be at some point."

"I just need to see them, to see they're okay."

The woman seemed a mix of nervous and excited, her foot tapping on the hardwood floor of the courthouse, and Connor suddenly felt guilty for listening to their conversation, despite not having much of a choice. It was early, and the building was still empty enough for their voices to echo.

His phone buzzed, and his eyes immediately moved towards it, so he only just noticed their gazes fall to him as he looked at the name on the screen. Morgan.

_On route. Bored already. _

He let out a laugh, shaking his head as he responded to the message, letting her know he was waiting, and that the day wouldn't be a complete write-off.

He hadn't seen her since she'd walked out of his apartment weeks before, but they'd been texting daily. Never about anything they really needed to address, but he was grateful to have the line of contact after months of sporadic communication, even if she wasn't being as open as he'd like.

He was distracted by back and forth texts when a figure stepped in front of him, drawing his attention away from his phone.

Hailey Upton was intimidating at the best of times, but when she was standing over him, arms crossed, observing him with a stony glare, she somehow managed to outdo herself. She remained standing for a moment, before taking a seat beside him.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes." Despite her change of position, the detective's posture was still defensive. "If you're fucking with her head, it ends now."

He didn't need to ask who she was referring to. "I'm not 'fucking with her head'."

"Then what are you doing?"

He hesitated. It was a good question. What was he doing? What did he hope to gain from this? He'd thought about it often, but was yet to commit to an answer – that depended entirely on Ava. He risked a glance towards the woman, having previously been avoiding it since she sat down, and she was watching him expectantly. "Figuring things out."

"Figuring things out?" She mimicked, turning away briefly. "For her sake, you better hurry up and figure it out."

"I think it's something we have to do together." He explained, looking past her towards the door, almost willing for Ava to walk in and save him from this interrogation. "I'm not the only one that gets a say."

"Right." Hailey scoffed. "Now you care about what she has to say."

It was a low blow, but he knew she was right. "I don't want to hurt her, if that's what you're worried about."

The look in her eyes changed, almost like a switch had been flicked, and she was so unfamiliar to him that for a moment he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I know."

"You know?"

"I trust her judgement." Despite her somewhat softer gaze, there was still a protective ferocity in her eyes. "I trust _her._"

Another low blow, and it was clear to him the detective knew exactly what impact the words would have on him.

"I get it." He decided that going on the defensive would be a bad idea. "In your position, I'd hate me, too."

"I don't hate you." The detective shrugged, glancing forward. "I hate what you did, and I don't trust you, but I don't hate _you_. I don't know you."

"Maybe that'll change someday."

She let out a laugh. "I can't see a world where you and I are friends."

"Maybe not friends." He shrugged before making the suggestion. "But acquaintances. For Ava. And Jay, I know him through Will."

"I know." She confirmed. "Jay tells me you're good people. If he didn't this conversation wouldn't be so polite."

Connor frowned. This was polite? It seemed like she was carefully crafting her words to make subtle digs at him. Or maybe he was being overly sensitive. It wasn't so easy to tell.

They fell silent for a while, and she glanced towards the door briefly, spying something familiar before she turned back to him.

"You need to be careful."

"Careful?"

"With Ava." Hailey elaborated. "She's not as tough as she seems, and these next few weeks are going to be difficult for her." Another hesitation as she glanced back towards the door. "She's going to need support, and I'm not allowed to give it to her."

"You're not?"

"Not until we've both testified." Another glance. "This is being played by the book. I haven't had a private conversation with her since I was pulled from protection detail."

He nodded, frowning as she once again looked over towards the door. "Who's over there that you're so interested in?"

Hailey was focused on a particular figure, a brunette woman standing with her back to them. "You need to follow Ava's lead when it comes to that situation, too. Until I can."

He frowned, watching the unfamiliar woman as she turned, allowing him to see her face, confused as to why this woman would be an issue. The detective stood, almost as if she was about to go on the defensive, and he was glad that for once he wasn't on the receiving end of her hostility. It wasn't her movement that explained what was happening, though, it was the movement of the couple sitting opposite him, jumping up at the sight of the young woman.

"Ella!"

The woman gave a shy smile to the couple, approaching them slowly before pulling the woman into a reluctant hug. "Aunt Beth."

And as Connor finally took the woman in, he realised that even without the words, he could have made the connection, only this time it wasn't in her appearance (although seeing that photo all those months before was enough to let him know the hair was dyed), it was in the way she presented herself, in her obvious but slight reluctance to allow anyone to get too close.

**-Ghosts-**

Ava laughed as the car pulled up at the back of the courthouse, continuing to listen fondly to the story her uncle was relaying about seven-year-old Matty's insistence that squirrels were purple, and the lengths he'd had to go to to convince his nephew that that wasn't the case.

She'd heard it before, after all, she'd lived it, but it had been so long that exploring the almost forgotten memory, especially with her uncle, had proven to be an emotional, heartwarming moment.

They stepped out of the car, staring up at the intimidating building, and for a moment she felt herself tense in the cold air, clenching her fists in her pockets and glancing up at the older man to see how he had reacted. If he was feeling as apprehensive as her, he wasn't letting it show.

"Why do you think they've brought us to the back entrance?"

"It's probably just protocol. I doubt it's anything to worry about."

"It's not." She looked over to the man that had driven them here. "High profile case. Alternating entrances for witnesses, and I'm sure your preference was with avoiding the media."

"Is there many out there?"

Ava looked up at her uncle as he asked the question, suddenly feeling like that lost little girl that would hide behind him again. He often towered over most people they met, and throughout her life it had always made her feel protected, despite his being, for the most part, one of the gentlest people she knew.

"They've been camped out since last night." The man stepped forward, tapping a code into the panel at the door, before holding his ID up to a screen. Pausing as it opened before holding it for them to enter. "Always happens with the big cases."

The door closed behind them, and after securing it he led them down a narrow corridor, moving past a few offices, most of them unoccupied, before pushing open a door at the far end and stepping out into the main entrance of the courthouse, people beginning to trail in for the beginning of the day.

It wasn't until after he had informed the relevant people of their arrival, their phones and had been taken and they had been given temporary ID cards that Ava spotted Connor across the space, frowning when she spotted Hailey next to him almost immediately.

"Madison."

She turned at the unexpected voice, forcing a smile for the agent as she approached her. "Agent Foster will be with you today. Please no repeats of the other week. We don't need any unexplained absences." She nodded towards John before gesturing to the agent she had just mentioned to approach them,

It wasn't one she had met before, but she couldn't say she was surprised that the measure was in place – for the first time in months she was in the same building as the people that had been hurting her family. She'd take every precaution they were willing to give her.

As soon as Agent Stevens stepped away, she made a beeline for Hailey and Connor, knowing she wouldn't really be able to speak to the former in any meaningful way just yet.

"Should I be worried?" They both looked to her, and she frowned at the concern they both shared in their expression. "What's wrong?"

"Maddie?"

Her brow furrowed at the sound of the familiar voice, and she turned in the direction it had come from, suddenly overwhelmed at the sight of the aunt she hadn't seen in years. "Aunt Beth!"

Accepting the woman's embrace was easy, her scent still familiar despite all the time that had passed, the comfort she always felt around her still ever present. She couldn't let go of the looks on her friends faces though. It didn't make sense that they thought she'd react badly to this.

"Beth."

She pulled back from her aunt at the sound of her uncle's voice, turning to him to gauge his reaction. He was smiling, and she'd kind of expected that. Beth was his ex-wife, but the split had been amicable, and up until everything had descended into chaos, he'd remained friends with her and formed a close friendship with her second husband. She was grateful for it. It had made it far easier for them as children. Having her to turn to had been a gift.

"John." Beth returned the smile. "How are you?"

"I'm good." He confirmed. "How are you? How's..."

"I don't know." Beth cut him off. "I haven't..."

John visibly tensed, and the older woman didn't need to finish her sentence. They fell into an uncomfortable silence, and Ava took the opportunity to glance back to Hailey and Connor, the concern still written on their faces. It was worrying her.

"Okay..." The voice came from behind her. "One coffee, one tea, and... Uncle John?"

Ava saw the smile that spread over her uncle's face as he acknowledged the new arrival, and she suddenly felt like she needed to throw up, frozen in place, her back to the individual.

"How you doing, spitfire?"

"You know I always hated that nickname." The tone gave away the true feelings. It wasn't a complaint, and if that hadn't been obvious enough, the woman bundling past her and into their uncle's waiting arms gave it away. "I'm fine. More than fine. How are you?"

"I'm great." John met Ava's eyes over Ella's head, trying to shoot her an encouraging smile, but she was frozen, panic setting in, a panic that only grew when Ella seemed to realise his attention had shifted slightly, and she turned around, meeting her sister's eyes.

"Maddie!" She seemed almost ecstatic, bounding forward and pulling her sister to her. Ava didn't respond, unsure whether it was shock, anger, or both causing her reluctance. "Are you okay?"

Ava stared past her sister, now understanding the concern of her friends as she met Hailey's eyes, blinking before moving to look at Connor. He looked confused, not quite able to figure out what was going on.

Ella didn't seem at all put off by the lack of response as she took a step back. "How are you? Tell me everything."

Ava looked past her, looking for someone to interrupt, and she was relieved when after a brief moment, Hailey stepped forward, gently placing a hand on Ella's arm and moving between them.

"Court will be in session soon. I'm sure you can catch up later." She nodded to Agent Foster, who had remained silent, but by Ava's side as instructed, and he instinctively placed a hand on Ava's back, guiding her away from the area after ensuring John was also following.

It wasn't until they had moved to another room and the door had been closed that Ava spoke again, her eyes fixed on her uncle. "What is she doing here?" She ran her fingers through her hair, beginning to pace. "Why is she here?"

"She's probably on the witness list."

Ava glared at him. "Why? She hasn't got anything to say."

"She was there."

"Barely."

"Madison..." John cut off, sitting down and sighing. "I think she knows more than we've been told."

"Why?"

"You know how close she and Rick were those first few years after he and I connected again." His expression was almost unreadable. "Didn't you ever wonder why that changed overnight?"

"I've never thought about it."

"I have." John continued. "She's never been like you, Chloe and your brother, I've never been able to get her to open up. She never told me what changed, but her knowing something, wouldn't it explain a lot?"

Ava shrugged, sitting down. "I guess."

"She needs you."

"She's never needed anyone."

Connor sat, intending to let them talk. Never needed anyone. That sounded a lot like the Ava he had always known. Although, he acknowledged, even when he believed she had had no one, she had had Hailey.

"You know that's not true. She took on a lot when your mom died."

"I know." Ava's voice was small, "but if she needed us now, she would have showed up months ago."

"We don't know what her life is like now."

"She didn't even try."

"Maybe she was nervous."

Connor gulped when Ava's eyes immediately met his, suddenly doubting his decision to speak, but she didn't seem angry, there was a curiosity in her gaze that he'd never really seen before.

"I've never seen her nervous before."

"Everyone gets nervous."

"I guess."

"You have a choice here." He decided to remind her. "You don't have to talk to her if you don't want to. You don't have to figure everything out now. You have time."

For a moment there, he wasn't sure if he was still talking about Ella, or if he had somehow ended up talking about himself.

**-Ghosts-**

Hailey never usually experienced nerves when it came to testifying, but this time, as she was called and stood to make her way to the witness stand, she felt that somewhat familiar feeling. She had known it would be today, but she hadn't expected to be called so soon, and with a case this big, she reasoned, it wouldn't make much sense for there not to be any nerves.

As she walked she realised she had never been told whether or not Dalton knew who she was now. Her name was on the witness list, but she had no idea if he had made the connection between her name and he woman he had become so infatuated with that he'd never really asked enough questions.

She supposed she was about to find out.

She chose not to look at him as she entered the courtroom, deciding against acknowledging him, but she could feel his eyes on her as she took the stand. He was silent until she confirmed her name, almost as if he wasn't quite willing to believe it until she had said it herself, but as soon as she had, he erupted, slamming a fist onto the table in front of him as he stood up.

"You bitch!"

She still didn't acknowledge him, listening as the judge ordered his defence team to control him, warning them that outbursts like that were not welcome in her courtroom.

It wasn't until half an hour later, when she was asked to confirm that the defendant was, in fact, the man in charge of one of the biggest criminal enterprises they had discovered in recent years, that she looked to him, seeing the fury in his gaze, his clenched fists resting on the table in front of him. It was clear to her that he hadn't made the connection beforehand, a fact that she knew she'd enjoy later on, but any satisfaction would have to wait until they had a verdict.

She just hoped it was the right verdict.

**-Ghosts-**

Connor stepped out into the hallway, making his way to the vending machines. In the hours they'd been there, Ava's agitation had grown, and he wasn't sure whether it was down to what was going on not all that far from where they were waiting, or the unexpected appearance of her sister that morning.

Whatever it was, he was hoping chocolate would help.

He was looking over the limited selection available when the voice came from behind him.

"She likes M&Ms." A pause. "At least, she did."

"She still does." He confirmed, and for a moment he smiled, even with everything that had happened, everything about herself that she had been forced to forget, it seemed that some things never changed. He took the opportunity to turn, taking in the brunette.

"She seems different."

He nodded, not really sure how to respond to that. He didn't know the person Ava used to be. Not really.

"How long have you known her?"

"Couple of years."

"How'd you meet?"

"Why?"

"She's my sister, I guess I'm just curious."

He nodded again. "We work together."

"Where?"

"I don't think I should tell you that." He shrugged, turning slightly to face her properly. "Not without talking to her."

She sighed. "What does she do?"

"We're doctors." He decided not to specify that they were surgeons to avoid narrowing down potential workplaces even further.

Ella's smile grew, and he found it almost unnerving. "She finished medical school, then."

"Yeah."

"I'd always hoped, but they couldn't tell me, of course."

"She's an amazing doctor."

"I'm not surprised."

Ella's curiosity seemed genuine, he pride she felt evident in her eyes, and a part of him wondered if this is what Ava had been like before being put into the program – if she and her sister had somehow become each other. The brunette wasn't anything like what had been described to him.

"I'm sure you have stories."

Connor thought for a moment, debating whether or not he should say anything, after all, Ava hadn't seemed happy to see her eldest sibling, and he really didn't want to be upsetting her right now, but, he assumed, one story couldn't hurt.

"Last year. We were called out to this collapsed building, there was a man trapped inside, leg crushed under concrete. We went in, not easy to do, but..."

"Maddie went into a collapsed building?"

"Yeah."

"How bad was it?"

"Almost completely down. We could barely move in there, the only path was the one the firefighters made..."

"How did you get her to do that?"

"To do her job?"

"To go in."

"She just did." He shrugged, confused.

"I just can't picture her doing that."

"Why?"

Ella frowned, her brow furrowed. "You know she's claustrophobic, right?"

"Claustrophobic?"

Connor frowned, he definitely hadn't been given that impression on the day, and Ava had never mentioned it.

"Yeah." Ella continued, eyes narrowed. "Ever since..." She cut off, suddenly turning away, but not before Connor caught the way she bit her lip – just as he knew Ava to do when she was anxious. "Never mind."

"Never mind?"

"Yeah." Ella confirmed. "Never mind."


	23. Chapter 23

"Miss Downes." Ava braced for the next question, remaining focused on the prosecutor in front of her. "Can you tell me what happened when Detective Upton left the room?"

"I could hear her talking in the hallway."

"And Detective Halstead remained in the room with you at this point?"

"Yes."

"Was Detective Upton's voice the only one you could hear?"

"No."

"Who else could you hear?"

"She was speaking to a man."

"How long was it before Detective Upton returned to the room?"

"Not long." Ava recounted. "Probably less than a minute."

"Was she alone when she returned?"

"No."

"Who was with her?"

"Rick." Ava confirmed. "Rick Dalton."

"And what happened when he saw you?"

"He said it was nice to see me, and asked how my leg was."

"Why would he ask about your leg?"

"Objection! Speculation."

"Sustained."

"Let me rephrase that." The prosecutor continued. "Is there any reason, as far as you are aware, that Mr. Dalton would have to ask about your leg?"

"I sustained a gunshot wound to my leg a number of years ago. He was there when it happened."

"What happened after he asked the question?"

"He said something about my not being polite, I think. I had noticed that he had a gun by then so I was focused on that."

The prosecutor stepped back. "There were two detectives in the room that day. Both armed, did either of them fire their weapons at all?"

"No."

"Of the three guns in the room, only one was fired?"

"Yes."

"And who fired that gun?"

"Yes." Ava raised a hand, pointing to where Rick Dalton sat across the room. "Him."

"Let the record show that the witness has identified the defendant."

"Let the record so indicate."

She'd been warned that the questioning would be extensive, and that it would take a while, but after three hours of recounting events in chronological order, starting from when she had met him as a small child, it was starting to wear on her.

And the defence hadn't even got started.

"Your injuries have prevented you from working for the past six months, is that correct?"

Ava nodded. "Yes."

"You could have died, is that correct?"

Another nod. "That's correc..."

"Objection!" The prosecutor seemed somewhat amused by the defence's interruption. "He's asking the witness to express the opinion of her doctors."

The prosecutor turned to the judge. "The victim is herself a doctor, and qualified to give an opinion regarding her injuries."

"I'll allow it."

The prosecutor looked back to her. "You could have died?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe the defendant intended for you to die?"

"Yes."

The prosecutor turned to the jury. "As per previous testimony, the defendant had, shortly before the incident, ordered the murders of Miss Downes and a number of her family members."

That would have been Hailey, Ava assumed.

She continued to answer questions, routinely looking over the prosecutor's shoulder to where Connor, as well as her aunt, were sitting in the gallery.

A few more hours, and she'd be done. Her part would be over with.

Hopefully.

**-Ghosts-**

"When are you testifying?"

Natalie looked up from the patient notes she had been going over. "Next week, they said."

Maggie nodded, noting the slight apprehension in the woman's expression. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Yeah." Natalie looked back to the notes, trying to ignore the cacophony of sounds she had become accustomed to hearing throughout the busy ED over the years. "Wanted it over with."

"Do you know how the trial is going?"

"No, I'm on a media blackout."

"That can't be easy."

"You don't realise just how 'everywhere' news media is until you need to avoid it."

"I'm sure." Maggie watched the young woman for a moment, enjoying taking the time to discuss anything other than her current battle. It was all most people seemed to want to talk to her about nowadays, whether expressing sympathy or enquiring about her treatment. As grateful as she was that people cared, it was tiring, especially for someone like her, who had always been better equipped to talk over someone else's problems. "Not long to go."

"Thankfully." Natalie seemed someone distracted, her focus having shifted.

"Everything okay?"

The doctor shook her head in response, frowning at the notes in front of her. "Why did Dr. Charles consult with Mina Ashton?"

Maggie pulled the notes up on her own tablet, scanning them before responding. "Will was worried about a comment she made."

"And he didn't think to run it by me?"

"He said he was going to. Probably forgot, it's been one of those days."

"I've been treating Mina since she was ten, she's not depressed, she has a dark sense of humour, if he had asked me I could have told him that."

"Do you remember when you last saw her?" Maggie queried.

"Late April."

The doctor hadn't, Maggie noted, used the notes to confirm that. The small improvements regarding her memory were becoming more evident every day.

"How's she doing?"

"I think we're still looking at a transplant before she's 21."

"That's a shame. Sweet girl."

"She's been prepared for it for years now. Wants to get it over with, but it's not necessary yet, her body is managing."

"Must be hell knowing that it's going to become necessary."

"Yeah." Natalie nodded. "She copes, though. No reason for Will to interfere."

"I think he's just worried about you."

"I don't need him to worry about me, I need him to let me do my job."

**-Ghosts-**

Ava leaned against the wall outside the courtroom, breathing heavily. She'd thought she'd be relieved when her part was over, but she didn't know what to feel. The intense rush she had felt when she had finally been told she could step down and long since dissipated, leaving her with a void of helplessness in the pit of her stomach. She'd lived with that reality for so long that now it was, for the most part, over with, she felt directionless. The past seven years of her life had been building up to that moment, and as long and exhausting as it had felt, now it seemed like it had been over in an instant.

"Madison?"

She looked up at the elderly couple approaching her, eyes narrowing at their vague familiarity. If her mind wasn't so clouded, so muddled, she knew she'd be able to identify them, but right now, the answer just wouldn't come to her.

"Madison."

The woman's voice was stern as she repeated the word, and the tone struck a chord. Something about it was familiar – almost as if she had heard it before in a distant memory. She watched their approach, still confused, searching their faces and her mind for their identities.

She was getting nothing.

"Madis..."

Their path towards her was blocked before the word came out once again.

"I told you to leave us alone."

"You need to learn some respect."

Ava blinked, allowing the figure in front of her to come into focus before she realised it was her sister shielding her from these familiar strangers.

"We don't need anything from you."

"El?"

The utterance caused her sister to turn around, and without a word, Ella placed an arm around her sister's shoulders, shooting one last scathing look to the couple before moving the two of them away.

"Ella, who was that?"

"You didn't recognise them?"

"Not well enough to put names to the faces."

Ella took that in for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Good."

"Good?"

Ella didn't answer, but continued to move them away from the pair. It was reminiscent of their childhood. Ella, having decided what was best for them, refusing to explain just how she had come to her conclusion, and definitely not considering their own thoughts on the matter. It hadn't resulted in the healthiest relationship as they became adults, as she, then Matthew, and finally Chloe, had started to rebel.

It wasn't a dynamic Ava was particularly eager to restart, and for that reason, she pulled away from her sister, grasping Ella's arm in order to bring them face to face with the intention of confronting her, of addressing their past conflicts as Dr. Charles had suggested she may need to do.

But Ella flinched, a hiss of pain escaping her that made Ava instantly drop her arm, the panicked look in her eyes deepening that void of helplessness that Ava had only just managed to stop thinking about.

She knew that look.

"El?"

"I'm fine."

"Is this why you wouldn't keep AJ?"

The thought of that little boy experiencing even some of their early childhood nauseated her.

"I'm fine."

Ava reached forward, grasping her sister's hand and slowly pushing up the sleeve, noting the tell-tale signs of a covered up bruise.

"Ella."

Ella pulled her arm back, quickly moving the sleeve back in place.

"It's fine, Maddie."

"No it isn't."

"You can't tell anyone."

Ava froze at her sister's words. _"You can't tell anyone."_. She'd overheard her mother say the same thing to Beth once. Even then it had been the wrong thing to say, and times had changed since then. Small progress had been made.

"You know th..."

"Grace!"

Ella tensed, her eyes flickering to something, or someone, standing behind Ava, and the blonde immediately spun around, taking in the man walking towards them.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Bathroom."

The man's eyes met Ava's briefly and his demeanour changed. "Always crowded in there, right? Who's this?"

"Oh, we just got talking waiting for the bathroom."

He seemed to buy the lie as he held out a hand. "Hey. Garrett."

Ava nodded, opting to avoid the hand shake, but taking care to keep her true feelings buried out of fear for her sister's safety.

"We should go."

Garrett looked back to Ella as she spoke, before making a show of checking his watch. "We should. I made dinner reservations."

She watched helplessly as Ella walked away, the man's possessive hand on her back, waiting until they were out of sight before turning in the opposite direction, moving quickly in search of someone, anyone, familiar. Just witnessing the scene and brought back all of those memories, and she'd much rather just forget them.

"Whoa!"

She came to a stop at the steadying hands on her shoulders, and looked up to meet Connor's concerned eyes.

"You're crying."

She sniffed, raising a hand and wiping her cheek to confirm that he was correct. She hadn't noticed, but the dampness of her cheeks confirmed it.

"Can you do something for me?"

He raised an eyebrow curiously, the concern still in his gaze. "Anything."

"Make me forget." She made the impossible request, despite knowing it was futile. "I just need to forget."

**-Ghosts-**

"Hailey..." Jay trailed off, not really knowing what to say to her – nothing could make this better.

"I'm fine."

"You're not." He stayed where he was, waiting for her to turn around.

"He killed him!"

"I know." He let out a sad sigh, stepping forward. "I'm sorry."

"Voight won't even investigate it. Like Cameron's life meant nothing to him."

"Hey," He interrupted, reaching out to place a steadying hand on her shoulder. "You know it's not like that."

She let out a frustrated sigh. "There is no good that can come out of using a murderer as a CI." She brushed him off, stepping out into the cold evening air and beginning to make her way across the parking lot. "Is the occasional lead worth more bodies?"

"Of course not." Jay followed her, passing his truck as he did – he wasn't sure she should be driving while she was this upset. "Where are you going?"

"Home." Hailey threw open the door to her car and he reached out, grasping her hand. The action caused her to pause for a second, meeting his gaze for what seemed like the first time that evening. "I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"I know." Jay confirmed. "Can I give you a ride, though? We both know you shouldn't be driving like this."

She hesitated for a moment, and he knew she was aware that he wasn't going to take no for an answer, still, he was surprised when she gave him a small nod and closed her car door, locking it and letting him lead her back to his truck.

He didn't breach the subject until they were both inside. "Did you want to stop by the safe house first?"

"I'm not allowed until..."

"Ava testified today."

He had been dreading telling her since he had found out an hour before, but knew it had to be done – she'd have found out soon enough anyway, and it was better that she found out from him, especially after what had happened that day.

The fury almost instantly returned to her eyes. "They were meant to tell me. I said I'd be there."

"Hey," Jay reached out, placing a hand on top of hers. "You said you'd be there if you could. She'll understand."

She sighed, checking the time. "It's too late to stop by now."

"First thing tomorrow then."

Hailey nodded. "First thing tomorrow."

Jay let out an inaudible sigh as he started the truck, relieved that his partner had taken him up on his offer without a fight. It was safer for everyone if she didn't drive in the state she was in, and driving her home gave him an excuse to be there at least until Vanessa got back.

The last thing Hailey needed was to be alone that night.

**-Ghosts-**

Ava sighed, sinking back into the pillow as a sense of deja vu came over her. The morning song of the birds outside causing her to open an eye just enough to see the morning light escape through a gap in the drapes.

The familiar tone of her phone had woken her some minutes before, but she'd opted to ignore it so far, choosing the warmth of the covers over the cold she knew she would find outside of them.

It was the second alert that had really gained her attention, and she stuck an arm out, quickly pulling the offending object towards her as she turned onto her back, her arm connecting with the naked torso of her sleeping... well, whatever he was.

He was still asleep, and she watched him for a moment, anxiously biting her lip before turning to her phone.

_Breakfast at mine?_

She could feel the relief flooding her as she read the request, knowing it was her chance to escape the awkward morning after. She shouldn't have let this happen, and she knew it.

Although he'd done what she asked, she supposed – he'd definitely made her forget.

She quietly slipped out of the bed, quietly searching for the clothes that had haphazardly been discarded the night before, debating whether or not she would have time to return to the safe house and change before heading to Hailey's.

Then she remembered what Connor had told her the last time she had been there, and curiously moved to the drawer that had contained some of her things all those months before. She almost laughed when she saw it was still there – that definitely made things easier for her.

She moved slowly, intent on making her escape before he woke up. He'd want to talk about it, just as he seemed to want to talk about everything else these days, and she still wasn't ready for that conversation.

He stirred as she was pulling on her jeans, and she froze for a brief moment, just long enough to watch him shift in his sleep, before finishing her task, barely taking the time to run a brush through her hair before she slipped out of the apartment.


End file.
